Bhimbetka Caves, 46km south of Bhopal, is a group of 243 rock shelters. The UNESCO World Heritage
One of the earliest records of art in India, these caves depict the life of prehistoric cave dwellers. The narrative caves paintings can be categorized into seven different historic periods. Studies show that the colours used for these paintings were prepared combining manganese, haematite, soft red stone and wooden coal. Sometimes animal fat and extracts of leaves were also used in the colour mixture. No wonder most of the colours have remained intact over many centuries. Interestingly, cave dwellers used thin twigs as paint brushes.
The paintings mostly have linear figures in red and white, occasionally green, yellow and ochre depicting scenes of hunting, dancing, animal fighting and figures of bison and tigers.
What is interesting is the superimposition of paintings on the same rocks, which means same rocks were used by different people at different times (however, without damaging the others). Imagine you are left in jungle with rocks as your canvas, this is what Bhimbetka is.
