Bhimbetka Rock Shelters

The Rock Shelters at Bhimbetka offer one of the most important prehistoric discoveries in Asia and have been designated a World Heritage site by UNESCO.

15 rock shelters at the Bhimbetka site are open to visitors, with hundreds of paintings visible. – © Michael Turtle

The paintings show that humans domesticated elephants several thousand years ago. – © Michael Turtle

This white painting at Bhimbetka shows warriors or hunters riding on horses, holding spears in their hands in an attack stance. – © Michael Turtle

The rock paintings at the World Heritage Site of Bhimbetka are up to 30,000 years old. – © Michael Turtle

15 rock shelters at the Bhimbetka site are open to visitors, with hundreds of paintings visible. – © Michael Turtle

On the walls of the rock shelters at Bhimbetka, humans have documented their history for tens of thousands of years and have left us with an incredible record. With unbelievable detail, paintings on the faces of caves show the development of the people who lived here from as early as 30,000 years ago up until the Medieval period.

The paintings reveal different aspects of the lives of early man. There are hunting scenes, images of people riding horses or elephants, paintings of the fashions of women, and depictions of household activities. Animals are a common motif in the paintings and you’ll be able to see elephants, tigers, antelope, and even lizards.

The shelter known as ‘Zoo Rock’ has hundreds of images of animals, including elephants, bison, and deer. – © Michael Turtle

It’s quite incredible to walk in the peaceful environment of the rock shelters and imagine the humans that lived here many millennia ago. The reason the colours – red, white, yellow, green and black – have lasted for so long is because of the chemical reaction from the oxidation of the natural pigments.

Representations of animals are common in the rock paintings, along with scenes of hunting or war. – © Michael Turtle

The Bhimbetka Rock Shelters are 47 kilometres from Bhopal. There are about 500 rock shelters with paintings in the site but, in order to protect them, just 15 are open to the public. They show an excellent range of the history and have hundreds of individual paintings on the rocks. It will take at least an hour to tour through them all.