MY TRIP TO BHIMBETKA

About Bhimbetka

The Bhimbetka Rock Shelter has the oldest-known rock art in India, as well as is one of the largest prehistoric complexes to be seen. An archaeological treasure, Bhimbetka has around 243 rock shelters.A walkthrough these ancient naturally carved rocks surrounded by dense forests of Bhimbetka will bring alive child-like wonder in you.People should visit there ones to feel the lives of primitive man.

1. Where is is located

The Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka is 45 kilometres south-east of Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.It is inside the Ratapani Wildlife Sanctuary, embedded in sandstone rocks, in the foothills of the Vindhya Range.

2. Discovery of Bhimbetka

The rock shelters and paintings at bhimbetka were discovered in 1957-58, by Dr. Vishnu Shridhar Wakankar.Out of the 750 rock shelters 500 are adorned with paintings.The site reminded a centreof human activity right from lower paleolithic times up to medieval period. The subject of paintings include linear depiction of human figures,hunting, riding, communal dances, warfare,and other scenes, deplicting details of the day to day activities of the ancient man.The mineral colours used for the painting are green,red,ochre and white. The cupmarks made on the rock surface at bhimbetka has been dated to 100000 B.P. This pushes back of the cognitive development of man at bhimbetks to many thousand years earlier than that of similar sites in various parts of the world making it one of the earliest cradles of cognitive human evolution.

Other antiquarian remains include: Fortification walls, minor stupas, stone built houses, inscription of Sunga-gupta period,Shankh inscripton and evidence of temples of Parmara period.These rock shelters and painthings are under cental protection of archaeological survey of India ,Bhopal.

3. What I found there

There I found massive rock shelters and the old paintings depicting early men’s life.Around 100000 years old cupmarks on the caves of Bhimbetka. Through the cave painting, one can understand the life of the primitive men also the kind of animals they encountered at the time painted on the rocks. Since the Bhimbetka rocks are the part of Ratapani wildlife sanctuary, it is believed that one might find these animals around Tiger, panther, bear, wild boar, hyaena, wolf, fox, swamp, deer, chital, chinkara, Neelam, langur, jackal, porcupine, hare and mongoose etc. A big auditorium present there and many rock shelters were describing there style how peoples reside there together.

4. My Experience during trip

I had a trip to Bhimbetka in the summer. I visited there with one of my friend. It was a really good trip as we got to see how people lived during that period. We learned about their food habits, living habits, and how they used to reside in caves.

When we entered the gate of Bhimbetka, I saw a massive rock shelter. As we ventured inside, after the entrance, there was a large auditorium where the people of that time gathered. It looks really good. There were many caves, one after the other, each with different kinds of paintings. We had to walk a lot as it was spread across a huge area. The path we walked on was made of rocks and had many ups and downs.We went there in the morning, but by the time we finished exploring, it was already afternoon. Despite the increasing heat, we kept on going. Sitting inside the caves was an incredible experience it was noticeably cooler inside. However, some caves were very slippery, making it somewhat difficult for me to find a comfortable spot. There were many huge rocks and caves that resembled the floors of modern buildings today.

It is really a good place to visit. One can also visit there with family and create joyful memories.