5 Interesting Facts of Rock Paintings in Bhimbetka Caves
Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka are listed under cultural sites of UNESCO Heritage sites of India, but don’t expect elaborate rock carvings or sculptures, Muhammed Sir, our guide for Times Passion Trails cautioned us before we set off to explore the caves.
They are not as impressive as the beautiful sculptures of Khajuraho Group of Monuments or majestic Buddhist Monuments at Sanchi but these caves have their own historic value, he elaborated further.
At a personal level this is now the oldest place I have visited on earth. Prior to this my record of visiting the oldest place was Epidaurus in Greece of 5th BC.
Entrance to Bhimbetka caves
Earliest Traces of Prehistoric Human Existence
The Rock Shelters found at Bhimbetka show the earliest traces of human existence in India. According to archaeologists, these caves were inhabited in Lower Paleolithic period over 200,000 years ago. Evidences were found in these caves of Bhimbetka Rock Shelters. This was the art gallery of early man.
Mention of prehistoric connection of this place got all of us very curious.
Bhimbetka Caves art gallery of Early Man
Human Evolution
Human development, the transition from ape to becoming a human, started 200,000 years ago. The cranium capacity of ape was 400cc; the ape evolved to being thinking human as the brain capacity increased to 500cc. He was up on his feet, his hands got freer and with opposing strength of his thumb he started using his hands effectively. He started chipping stones to make tools.
Bhimbetka – here is the stage where all human development happened!
In Europe human development took place 40,000 years back but Bhimbetka was way more advanced by then. Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka has all the evidences that this development took here 100,000 years back. Such is the importance of this place!
This is not any mythological belief but established fact by correct scientific absolute dating methods like Radiocarbon dating method.
We walked the same path, on the footsteps of ancient men who had once walked here several thousand years back.
Rock paintings in Caves
5 Interesting Facts of Rock Paintings in Bhimbetka Caves
Bhimbetka is famous for a number of prehistoric rock paintings. But why do they exist here in such huge numbers, how did they survive so long, what do the paintings signify? Know the answers to these questions –
Concentration of Rock shelters – Early man flourished more in this region because the place is fertile, weathered rock formation provided shelter. Thick growth of trees, abundance of animals for hunting must have enabled easy survival. Plenty of natural water sources too.
Cave 3 – notice the hand impression of a child? – Rock paintings of Bhimbetka Caves.
Paintings at a height – Prehistoric man who resided here must have used some scaffolding to reach those heights. They were not tall people. Averagely they had a height of around 5ft. So it assumed that they would have used some kind of stone steps to reach those heights.
Another reason could be they wanted to protect their paintings from water so ceilings of caves were the best.
Colors used for paintings – As you explore the caves of Bhimbetka you will notice a myriad of colors used. At some places they are bright red, at other places there are green, yellow and some were shades of orange too. White and red were the most commonly used colors.
Evidences establish the fact that by combining manganese, hematite, wooden coal, soft red stone, and plant leaves the cave dwellers here could create these colors. These evidences were found in prehistoric layers during excavations.
Rock Paintings of Bhimbetka Caves Row 1 Pic 1 from Cave 1./ Row 1 Pic2, 3 from Cave 4 -zoo rock shelter./Row 2 Pic 1 – Cave 8./ Row 2 faded paintings Pic 2 and 3 – Cave 10./Row 3 Pic 1 – Cave 12/Row 3 Pic 2 – Cave 15.
Faded Paintings – When these paintings were discovered they were much brighter. Since these paintings have been sheltered from rain and rough weather, they could survive over the centuries. Over a period of time some deterioration has taken place. There is study on now on how to preserve the paintings. (paintings in Cave 2 and Cave 10 have faded the most)
What the paintings represent – Early man expressed his feelings like conquests, fear, submission, community activities through these paintings. These paintings are valid documents that provide a glimpse into man’s prehistoric past, their clothing, culture, nomadic and agricultural lifestyle.
Explanations in front of caves in Bhimbetka, every cave has one such board.
Rock Paintings in 15 Caves of Bhimbetka
Huge rocks, they all seemed to be precariously balanced. Had I been alone here I would have believed it to be some ‘extraterrestrial’ kind of place! The drawings are indeed very varied and interesting. We went exploring one cave after another, 15 of them.
Rock Shelters, Cave 1 has a board which explains the various layers of earth, almost 4m in depth, and what was found in these layers. They were excavated between 1973 and 1976; the findings included microliths, pottery, paleolithic tools, acheulean stone tools.
Though such prehistoric tools have been found in different parts of India, it is only at Bhimbetka here that proof of cognitive development of human beings has been found. They expressed themselves through these artistic drawings.
A board in Cave 1 explaining various layers of earth excavated here.
In cave 3, in addition to various paintings of animals you will find a number of cupules, depressions, on stone.
Cave 3 – Cupules in Bhimbetka Caves – Rock cupules are circular man-made hollows on the surface of a rock or a rock slab. These are the man’s earliest manifestation of creativity and date to lower Paleolithic period.
Cave 4, the Zoo Rock Shelter, was the most exciting of all. I am sure kids will be most fascinated here by the large number of animal paintings. There are 453 figures in this shelter comprising 252 animals of 16 different species and 90 human figures! Whew! How to photograph them all?!
Cave 15, Boar Rock, was interesting and my favorite. Here is the painting of gigantic boar chasing the tiny man!
My fav piece of art in the oldest art gallery of India
Turtle rock, view point – Rock paintings of Bhimbetka Caves
Rock paintings of Bhimbetka caves from prehistoric times. Mushroom shaped shelter is known as Boar rock – Cave 15
Discovery of Bhimbetka Caves
The sight of the huge boulders and the caves within is overwhelming. One is intrigued by the thoughts – who discovered these prehistoric rocks of Bhimbetka and how did the discovery happen?
Well, what if I told you these caves were discovered by chance!
In March 1957, when winter was just receding and summer hadn’t set in yet, somewhere in Obedullaganj 36km from Bhopal, a steam engine on its way to Hoshangabad developed a snag – a seemingly insignificant incident.
Dr. Vishnu Shridhar Wakankar traveling in this train sighted oddly shaped outline of the distant hills. Curious he set off to explore the hilly region and stumbled on the caves. Call of the rocks – that is how he described the moment later.
This was significant, because it led to a chain of discoveries that explained a whole chapter in the life of ancient evolving humans who resided here. So in retrospect the steam engine developing a snag in the middle of nowhere too is significant part of this discovery, right?!
Dr. V S Wakankar came back several times after that for weeks to discover more and more. A local hermit who resided in these hilly areas enthusiastically helped and took him around the hills. Not only Bhimbetka Hill, neighboring hills like Vinayka, Bhonrawali, Lakhajuar East and Lakhajuar West too has prehistoric cave art. Of these only the Bhimbetka hills is easily accessible.
River Betwa in the horizon.
Mythological connection to Bhimbetka
The name, it is believed, is from the Mahabharata, an epic of Hindus. The second of the Pandava brothers, Bhima, stayed in these caves after he and his four brothers were banished from their kingdom. “Bhim betka” translates to the place where Prince Bhima sat.
Tips to Visit the Bhimbetka Caves
- There are written descriptions of the paintings beside each cave, yet hire a guide to learn certain nuances and for a better experience.
- Take your own water bottle, cap and shades. Go full stomach because there are no eateries nearby.
- Wear good walking shoes, the entire stretch is uneven and 3km to and fro.
- Not differently able friendly. There is just one Braille board at the entrance but not near the individual caves.
- The place is very clean and has a toilet as well as drinking water.
- Avoid summers and midday visits.
Times Passion Trail at Bhimbetka
Location and How to reach Bhimbetka caves
These caves are located in Raisen district of Madhya Pradesh, at the southern edge of the forested Vindhyachal Range. Bhimbetka Caves is accessible easily by road and rail. Nearest airport is in Bhopal, 40km away. You can hire private(more convenient) and public transport(often crowded) to get to the place.
Map for Bhimbetka caves
Pin this for later…
If you have liked this post you can save and share. I appreciate each and every share thanks!
we were so creative even before we started with so called proper history though i believe we have much of golden past as we have our modern times now
I too loved the uniqueness of Bhimbhetka as these caves have paintings from ancient times and still as it is. I wonder what paints they used that time as still now they are there. Good to see the human development and evolution here. Good to know that due to Radio carbon dating method they have proved that these caves are not having only myhtological importance but also has evidence of 100,000 years back in human development.
Those carvings look amazing! The artwork is always fascinating to me as well as the history behind it. Its very interesting how they used a variety of colors and how the carvings/paintings have lasted so long. Bhimbetka Caves would be at the time of my list if I ever get to visit the area.
To visit India, you need a half year or year; it offers so many to see. I was to India 3 times; I spent two months there, so far, but still not enough. It is another place with a fantastic story that I have never heard of before. I hope to visit Bhimbetka Caves one day.
It is truly amazing how early humans can create and express their thought through carvings and scriptures. We should help to save this priceless treasure, this isn’t vandalism coz it is created by our early ancestors. Thank you for sharing us this nature’s natural art gallery!
So very interesting to visit the Bhimbetka Caves and be in one of the oldest places of human existence on earth. The cave drawings certainly do give a view into life at that time. Always interesting to see how much colour was available at that time. And that the colours have survived. I am sure it was enlightening to see the variety in the different caves.
I have heard so much about Bhimbetka Caves and these looks fascinating to read about the Paintings of Caves. These caves are many many thousands years old and provided shelter to them, Glad to know about the lifestyle and how they evolved with the time via those Paintings.I am impressed by knowing their intelligence level of prehistoric men.
Thanks for sharing that the rock paintings might not be as impressive as other sites, but not less valuable. Amazing how such old paintings can survive and represent early conquests, community activities and give us a glimpse into prehistoric life on earth. Also, a cool fact that they used some sort of steps to make the painting at such height!
These rock cave paintings are fascinating! I’ve never been to India, so Bhimbetka is completely new to me. I particularly like the one of the giant boar too, you can only imagine what it was like living in the pre-historic period!
Caves like these always provided shelter for the prehistoric men. Especially in fertile places. I’d love to visit the Bhimbetka Caves someday. It’s amazing that they discovered so many rock paintings. Even though they are not as bright as they probably were originally, they are still in a great shape.
Fascinating and beautiful. Thank you for the descriptions and information.