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The pre-historic rock-shelters of Bhimbetika

Here is a collection of the  pictures of  caves of Bhimbetika containing the prehistoric man's line drawings

 

I am giving below pictures of the drawings on the walls of the caves:

 

The name Bhimbetika comes from the mythological association of the place with Bhima ,one of the Pandavas.The place has around 700 caves with drawings but just 10 to 15 are open for viewing. The colours used are vegetable colours which have endured through time because the drawings are generally made on  places deep inside a niche or inner walls.The presence of the figure of a horse , which is supposed to have come into India in  relatively recent times makes one believe that some of the drawings date back to just a few thousand years but there are other drawings which have been established as  of the palaeolithic age . The archaelogists , using the carbon dating technique , have conclusively proved that the drawings were indeed of the paleolithic age.

 

The drawings were discovered in 1957 by Prof. Wakankar.

 

The caves have evolved ,over time, into excellent rock-shelters ,just the ideal places for aboriginal settlement. The smooth shape of the rocks has led some scientists to believe that the place was once upon a time under water . The rocks have taken incredible shapes in several stunning hues and textures . Apart from the central place the aboriginal drawings have in human history , the caves themselves offer interesting material for a study of the earth's history.

 

The original line drawings have themes drawn from  hunting scenes, animals like deer, bison, elephant ,  tribal dances  (much like dimsa-what you find in today's Bastar disrict and Araku valley ).The drawings exhibit remarkable skill in  graphically capturing the daily events of the aboriginal living.

The caves are situated in low-altitude hillockrange and are covered under thick vegetation.The place is 40 kms away from Bhopal in Central India.

The drawings are mostly in the inner recesses of the rock shelters and are done using vegetable colours of white and red which have remained intact over time .The drawings have mostly themes drawn from daily life of the aboriginal man ,like animals,hunting,etc.

Some beautiful caves and rock formations can be seen here.

COMMENTS
Experience said at 6:40 a.m. on Jan 12, 2007:
Condivido i complimenti di Reta... gran tabblo. Bravo!
Mashpee_Paula said at 6:59 a.m. on Jan 12, 2007:
AMAZING! This just must be spectacular to see with your own eyes! Beautiful, fascinating pictures, thank you for the history as well! Wow! I keep returning to this Tabblo to look at these pictures!!
LatentE said at 9:01 a.m. on Jan 12, 2007:
Beautiful images. My favorites are the ones of the natural archways with colored bands within the rock and bright openings seen on the other side of the archway.
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