Bhimbetka rock shelters
| Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka | |
|---|---|
| Name as inscribed on the World Heritage List | |
 | |
| Type | Cultural |
| Criteria | (iii)(v) |
| Reference | 925 |
| UNESCO region | South Asia |
| Inscription history | |
| Inscription | 2003 (27th Session) |
  Location of Bhimbetka rock shelters in India Madhya Pradesh.
| |
Coordinates: 22°56′14″N 77°36′45″E / 22.93722°N 77.61250°E
The Bhimbetka rock shelters are an archaeological site of the Paleolithic, exhibiting the earliest traces of human life on the Indian subcontinent, and thus the beginning of the South Asian Stone Age. It is located in the Raisen District in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. The Bhimbetka shelters exhibit the earliest traces of human life in India. At least some of the shelters were inhabited by Homo erectus more than 300,000 years ago.[1] Some of the Stone Age rock paintings found among the Bhimbetka rock shelters are approximately 30,000 years old.[2] The caves also deliver early evidence of dance. They were declared a World Heritage Site in 2003.
The name Bhimbetka (भीमबेटका) is associated with Bhima, a hero-deity of the epic Mahabharata.[3] The word Bhimbetka is said to derive from Bhimbaithka, meaning "sitting place of Bhima".[3]
Location
The Rock Shelters of Bhimbetaka (or Bhim Baithaka) lie in the Raisen District of Madhya Pradesh, 45 kilometers south of present-day Bhopal at the southern edge of the Vindhyachal hills. South of these rock shelters are successive ranges of the Satpura hills.
The entire area is covered by thick vegetation, has abundant natural resources in its perennial water supplies, natural shelters, rich forest flora and fauna, and bears a significant resemblance to similar rock art sites such as Kakadu National Park in Australia, the cave paintings of the Bushmen in Kalahari Desert and the Upper Paleolithic Lascaux cave paintings in France.[4]
Discovery
As reported in the UNESCO citation declaring the Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka as a World Heritage Site, Bhimbetka was first mentioned in Indian archeological records in 1888 as a Buddhist site, based on information gathered from local adivasis. Later, as V. S. Wakankar was traveling by train to Bhopal he saw some rock formations similar to those he had seen in Spain and France. He visited the area along with a team of archaeologists and discovered several prehistoric rock shelters in 1957.[5]
Since then more than 750 such shelters have been identified, of which 243 are in the Bhimbetka group and 178 in the Lakha Juar group. Archeological studies revealed a continuous sequence of Stone Age cultures (from the late Acheulian to the late Mesolithic), as well as the world’s oldest stone walls and floors.
Barkheda has been identified as the source of the raw materials used in some of the monoliths discovered at Bhimbetka.[6]
Rock art and paintings
The rock shelters and caves of Bhimbetka have a large number of paintings. The oldest paintings are considered to be 30,000 years old, but some of the geometric figures date to as recently as the medieval period. The colors used are vegetable colors which have endured through time because the drawings were generally made deep inside a niche or on inner walls. The drawings and paintings can be classified under seven different periods.
Period I - (Upper Paleolithic): These are linear representations, in green and dark red, of huge figures of animals such as bison, tigers and rhinoceroses.
Period II - (Mesolithic): Comparatively small in size the stylised figures in this group show linear decorations on the body. In addition to animals there are human figures and hunting scenes, giving a clear picture of the weapons they used: barbed spears, pointed sticks, bows and arrows. The depiction of communal dances, birds, musical instruments, mothers and children, pregnant women, men carrying dead animals, drinking and burials appear in rhythmic movement.
Period III - (Chalcolithic) Similar to the paintings of the Chalcolithic, these drawings reveal that during this period the cave dwellers of this area were in contact with the agricultural communities of the Malwa plains, exchanging goods with them.
Period IV & V - (Early historic): The figures of this group have a schematic and decorative style and are painted mainly in red, white and yellow. The association is of riders, depiction of religious symbols, tunic-like dresses and the existence of scripts of different periods. The religious beliefs are represented by figures of yakshas, tree gods and magical sky chariots.
Period VI & VII - (Medieval) : These paintings are geometric linear and more schematic, but they show degeneration and crudeness in their artistic style. The colors used by the cave dwellers were prepared by combining manganese, hematite and wooden coal.
One rock, popularly referred to as “Zoo Rock”, depicts elephants, sambar, bison and deer. Paintings on another rock show a peacock, a snake, a deer and the sun. On another rock, two elephants with tusks are painted. Hunting scenes with hunters carrying bows, arrows, swords and shields also find their place in the community of these pre-historic paintings. In one of the caves, a bison is shown in pursuit of a hunter while his two companions appear to stand helplessly nearby; in another, some horsemen are seen, along with archers.
See also
Some of other famous locations, across the globe, where petroglyphs similar to Bhimbetka have been discovered are:
- Rock carvings at Alta
- Cumbe Mayo, Peru
- Petroglyph National Monument
- Rock art
- Cave paintings in India
References
- ↑ Toward Sustainable Development?: Struggling Over India's Narmada River, by William F. Fisher, p. 54
- ↑ Klaus K. Klostermaier (1989), A survey of Hinduism, SUNY Press, ISBN 0-88706-807-3, "... prehistoric cave paintings at Bhimbetka (ca. 30000 BCE) ..."
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Mathpal, Yashodhar. Prehistoric Painting Of Bhimbetka. 1984, page 25
- ↑ Sajnani, Manohar. Encyclopaedia of Tourism Resources in India. 2001, p. 195
- ↑ "Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka". World Heritage Site. Archived from the original on 8 March 2007. Retrieved 2007-02-15.
- ↑ "Bhimbetka (India) No. 925". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Retrieved 2012-04-28.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rock shelters of Bhimbetka. |
- UNESCO World Heritage: Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka
- Prehistoric Art of Bhimbetka
- Bhimbetka Gallery by A. N. Maheshwari
- Pre-historic Paintings of Bhimbetka by L. L. Kamat
- The Rock Art of Central India
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