India’s Oldest Art Gallery Dates Back 30,000 Years, Hosts First Signs Of Humans In The Subcontinent

Among the names of famous hill stations and easily accessible tourist destinations in the country, one can easily mistake Bhimbetka as a less attractive site housing dull caves paintings and dilapidated rock shelters in a remote location.

However, nothing could be further from the truth. The site - located in the heart of the country in Madhya Pradesh - is home to features and paintings that date back to the stone age. India’s oldest art gallery by some accounts, Bhimbetka hosts first signs of humans in India - engraved on the cave walls over 30,000 years ago.

All these paintings, however, do not belong to the same era, giving evidence of the use caves by humans through various periods.

According to a report in the Mint, the oldest drawings found in Bhimbetka are from the Upper Paleolithic Era. These paintings, in hues of green and red, depict large animals like bison, elephants and tigers in the forests in the region.

Additional details can be found in the paintings from the Mesolithic Era, which depict weapons like spears, bow and arrows and sticks apart from animals, giving proof of the evolution of the civilization.

“A walk through Bhimbetka is like a crash course in history. It transcends beyond the colourful stories of kings and queens, of war and strife,” writes Harnoor Channi-Tiwary, the author of the report in the Mint.

“Local folklore suggests the presence of Bhim, one of the Pandavas from Mahabharata, at this site. Thus the name. A nearby village called Pandapur is said to have been named after the Pandavas, whereas the Lakha Juhar forest is believed to have once been the site of the lakh palace of the Pandavas,” the report notes.

There are over 750 shelters in the area, 243 of which are collectively known as Bhimbetka. Although the existence of this site was reported by tribals back in 1888, it was not discovered until 1957, when archaeologist V S Wakankar sighted them during a train journey to Bhopal.