Bhimbetka (the "Place where Bhim sat down") : Located at around 45 Kms from Bhopal, Bhimbetka rock shelter is declared as a "World Heritage Site". It was discovered formally by Dr Vishnu Wakankar in 1957 while he was travelling by train and noticed these rocks. (though there are already mentions of it in archaeological records from 1888).
As we got out of the car, i noticed this huge formation of rock located ,the view was majestic. the parking had another car and 2 bikes, it was very surprising that a place like this did not have tourists flocking from all over the country and the world. As we ventured inside, there was a small temple near the entrance maintained by an old Priest. His face lightened up as he saw us, guess he is not used to having too many tourists and it was a welcome change for him. We talked to him for sometime though i was not able to understand him clearly due to the dialect as well as his voice being a little hoarse. But what i did understand was that , according to him this was the place where the(Pandwas from mahabharata ) had been during their "Agyatvas"
[According to the mythology it was said that after the Pandavas lost the gambling , they were sentenced to 14 years of exile and the last year was to be "Agyatvas" (Agyat means unknown) during which if found , they will have to spend another 14 years away from their state.] After exploring the place for next few hours, I was not surprised why they would have chosen it, it was just perfect. There were natural shelters made of rocks which could protect you against sun or the rain.
and the surrounding , it was beautiful . Situated near the Betwa river and amidst the forest, i envied Pandwas for spending an year at that place. There were also ancient paintings on the wall, though they had faded away with time , they had a story to tell. It is also believed that the humans back then were much taller than they are now as some of the rock paintings were way higher. A very surprising paining was of a a Giraffe, which isn't found in India , not any more atleast! (though I cant be 100% sure if the painting was genuine but still intriguing)
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| The First View of Bhimbetka! |
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| The entrance between the rock and the temple |
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| These are added later depicting the ancient human beings residing in the caves |
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| The Palm size in the pic was way bigger than ours. and this was supposed to be the palm size of the baby back then |
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| Rock Paintings - Various animals, I think goats and cattle (though there were some pictures of giraffe which i lost, it was surprising as Giraffes are not found in India, not anymore atleast) |
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| One of the many shelters |
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| Some of the rock painting showing the animals (deer i reckon) |
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| The tortoise rock |
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| Another Rock shelter - Its much bigger though not the biggest we saw there |
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| There were a lot of rock paintings though they were gradually fading away. But its amazing they have survived so many centuries. Wonder if we can find such hight quality paints now. |
Well put ... The silent musings of these rocks :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Preety!
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