Powerful Images Indian India Rock Art from Early to Recent Times
Powerful Images Indian India Rock Art from Early to Recent Times
Powerful Images Indian India Rock Art from Early to Recent Times
Rock Art Network
Powerful Images
INDIAN ROCK ART FROM EARLY TO RECENT TIMES

Powerful Images India Indian Rock Art from early to recent times Archaeology National Museum and Research Center of Altamira Rock Art Network RAN

Powerful Images India Indian Rock Art from early to recent times Archaeology National Museum and Research Center of Altamira Rock Art Network RAN

Main areas of Rock Art
Exhibition organized by the National Museum and Research Center of Altamira (Spain)

Curator
Meenakshi Dubey-Pathak
Independent Rock Art Researcher and Expert, Bhopal

Coordinator
Pilar Fatás
Museo de Altamira

India’s rock art is as varied as its vast territory. Moreover, the diversity of natural environments contributes to the chronological dispersion of the different manifestations of rock art. Nevertheless, much of this art has surprising similarities.

Indian rock art is not too well known because it is frequently found in deep jungles, which contributes to academic interest because its cultural and natural contexts have often been preserved. Thus, it becomes possible to discover the persistence of age-old traditions among local tribes that may have to do with rock art and explain some of its meanings.

Powerful Images India Indian Rock Art from early to recent times Archaeology National Museum and Research Center of Altamira Rock Art Network RAN
Discoveries and Landscapes

Representation of a fish and a deer
Representation of a fish and a deer.
Rajat Prapat. Pachmarhi. Mesolithic.
History of the discoveries

Prehistoric rock art was first identified in India in 1867-68 by Archibald Carlleyle at Sohagihat in the Mirzapur district of Uttar Pradesh, who never submitted it for publication. Based on some of his field notes, V. A. Smith published Carlleyle’s work, which is the only extant record of his discovery. In the same time J. Cockburn started exploring Mirzapur area more systematically.

F. Fawcett discovered rock engravings in 1901 in the Edakkal cave in the Kozhikode district of Kerala, and in 1910, C. W. Anderson recognized the sites of Singhanpur in Chhattisgarh. D. H. Gordon identified the Pachmarhi rock paintings in the Mahadeo Hills in 1932, while K. P. Jayaswal identified rock engravings in a rock shelter at Vikramkhol in the Sambalpur district of what is now Odisha, in 1933.

Finally, Vishnu Shridhar Wakankar discovered Bhimbetka in 1957 near Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh, which has one of the largest concentrations of rock paintings in all of India. Dr. Wakankar said that he had been travelling along the hills by train when he noticed spectacular sandstone rock formations along the ridge. He became fascinated by them and the surrounding landscape. He descended from the train to explore and discovered Bhimbetka. This site was entered on UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 2003.

(left) Drawing of a hunting scene made by Anderson, published in 1918. Now the representation is not in a good state of preservation. (center) Representation of a boar in agony, a well-known image of Mirzapur area. It was first seen by Carlleyle and after, by Cockburn. At that moment he wrote his name on top of the art. (right) Drawing by J. Cockburn.
(left) Drawing of a hunting scene made by Anderson, published in 1918. Now the representation is not in a good state of preservation. (center) Representation of a boar in agony, a well-known image of Mirzapur area. It was first seen by Carlleyle and after, by Cockburn. At that moment he wrote his name on top of the art. (right) Drawing by J. Cockburn.
(left) Singhanpur. Chhattisgarh. Mesolithic. (center) Photo by Wakankar. Sohagihat. Mirzapur. Mesolithic. (right) Sohagihat. Mirzapur. Mesolithic.
(left) Drawing of a hunting scene made by Anderson, published in 1918. Now the representation is not in a good state of preservation. (right) Representation of a boar in agony, a well-known image of Mirzapur area. It was first seen by Carlleyle and after, by Cockburn. At that moment he wrote his name on top of the art. (bottom) Drawing by J. Cockburn.
(left) Drawing of a hunting scene made by Anderson, published in 1918. Now the representation is not in a good state of preservation. (right) Representation of a boar in agony, a well-known image of Mirzapur area. It was first seen by Carlleyle and after, by Cockburn. At that moment he wrote his name on top of the art. (bottom) Drawing by J. Cockburn.
(left) Singhanpur. Chhattisgarh. Mesolithic. (right) Photo by Wakankar. Sohagihat. Mirzapur. Mesolithic. (bottom) Sohagihat. Mirzapur. Mesolithic.

In Rajasthan, Mandol Dam in Bhilwara, close to a big lake, there are a number of spectacular rocks. One of them, somewhat evocative of a head, has got a red figures on its west face, and two other cavities on its south face, a few paintings at its top, and testify to recent worship practices
Rajasthan
In Rajasthan, Mandol Dam in Bhilwara, close to a big lake, there are a number of spectacular rocks. One of them, somewhat evocative of a head, has got a red figures on its west face, and two other cavities on its south face, a few paintings at its top, and testify to recent worship practices.
Sacred landscapes

Isolated rocks and cliff faces have occasionally been chosen for paintings but, in most cases, there is an overhang to protect them. In fact, any rocks with overhangs, from small ones a few metres across to long, huge cliffs, have been chosen for paintings.

Central India is the richest zone of prehistoric rock art in India. Most rock art sites are situated in the Satpura, Vindhya, and Kaimur Hills. These hills are formed from sandstone, which weathers relatively quickly to form rock shelters and caves. The diversity of flora and fauna is the greatest asset of this dense forest. In this respect, these hills were ecologically ideal for human occupation at least as early as the Mesolithic period (from 10,000 BC).

The animal species depicted in rock art were of great economic importance because of their food value. Rock paintings are a major source of our understanding of how their creators related to their physical, biological, and cultural environments. These people held beliefs and practices, as their descendants do now, that expressed a direct or indirect relationship with their environment.

(left) The sandstone Vindhyan range is roughly 600 m above sea level and 100 m above the Deccan plain from which it stands out on the horizon. Even from several miles away, the Bhimbetka hills are prominent in the landscape, with the big masses of rocks that crown them. The spectacular character of the place must have attracted people since the most remote times. (center) Approaching Kharwai, a rock tower, about 25 m high, named Chidyakho (meaning Place of Birds), stands next to a river. We see this beautiful natural rock
shelter from a nearby road. (right) A few kilometers from Raisen, at Karabad (locally known as Hathitol or Ramchhajja), a series of small shelters include many red or white paintings mostly representing herds of wild bovids on the walls and the ceilings.
(left) Bhimbetka (center) Kharwai (right) Hathitol
(left) The sandstone Vindhyan range is roughly 600 m above sea level and 100 m above the Deccan plain from which it stands out on the horizon. Even from several miles away, the Bhimbetka hills are prominent in the landscape, with the big masses of rocks that crown them. The spectacular character of the place must have attracted people since the most remote times. (center) Approaching Kharwai, a rock tower, about 25 m high, named Chidyakho (meaning Place of Birds), stands next to a river. We see this beautiful natural rock shelter from a nearby road. (right) A few kilometers from Raisen, at Karabad (locally known as Hathitol or Ramchhajja), a series of small shelters include many red or white paintings mostly representing herds of wild bovids on the walls and the ceilings.

Powerful Images India Indian Rock Art from early to recent times Archaeology National Museum and Research Center of Altamira Rock Art Network RAN
Archaeological Context

Complex panel with three parallel chariots and many characters. At top, five warriors are wielding axes and shields. They seem associated to two drum players to the left of whom there are two warriors with bows and with the same headgear. Below, there is an elegant slim humped bull and a small war chariot.
Complex panel with three parallel chariots and many characters. At top, five warriors are wielding axes and shields. They seem associated to two drum players to the left of whom there are two warriors with bows and with the same headgear. Below, there is an elegant slim humped bull and a small war chariot.
(Processed with DStrecht) Chatuerbhujnath Nala, Bhanpur. Neolithic.
The Mesolithic and the Neolithic

Archaeological evidence for Central India is sparse. The oldest remains date to the beginning of the Mesolithic period (around 10,000 to 8000 BC). People were hunter-gatherers armed with bows and arrows for hunting. Their technology is characterized by the production of flint tools―flakes, points, crescents, triangles, trapezes―obtained by pressure knapping from cylindrical cores. These micro-tools were probably inserted into bone or wooden handles to make composite knives, arrowheads, or spearheads. Their presence in various shelters testifies to their occupation by Mesolithic people. The art found there was vivid, with scenes involving humans and wild animals, such as humpless bovids and wild boars, and filled with complex geometric patterns.

The transition to the Neolithic probably took place between 7000 and 5000 BC, with its attendant economic, techno-logical, and cultural changes. While agriculture, animal domestication, and ceramics made their appearance, hunting continued to play a central role in the means of subsistence. The art reflects these changes with the appearance of humpbacked bovids, the representation of activities both domestic (pottery) and agricultural (ploughing), and the depictions of huts.

The end of the Neolithic period and the appearance of metal (copper and then bronze) occurred around 2500 or 2000 BC without profoundly affecting the way of life. During this phase, the Harappan Civilization developed. In art, the first representations of chariots appear.

(Left) In the Mesolithic, humans and animals often had their bodies represented full of complex geometric motifs. (Right) Representation of a large humped bull with the inside of its body decorated.
(left) In the Mesolithic, humans and animals often had their bodies represented full of complex geometric motifs. (right) Representation of a large humped bull with the inside of its body decorated.
(left) Bori, Pachmarhi. Mesolithic. (right) Richhankho, Doulatpur, Bhopal. Neolithic.

Metal age and historical period

Representation of a stupa and a rare portrait of Buddha, one of the oldest ever represented, some inscriptions and a great number of handprints.
Representation of a stupa and a rare portrait of Buddha, one of the oldest ever represented, some inscriptions and a great number of handprints.
(Processed with DStrecht) Samardha, Raisen. Historic.
The Iron Age begins around 1500 BC with the Vedic Civilization, which also marks the transition to the historical Vedic period and the birth of Hinduism. Since then, India’s history has identified several major historical phases based on successive conquests and the establishment of empires.

The Mauryan Empire, between the fifth and second centuries BC, was contemporary with the spread of Buddhism. The period of the Early Middle Kingdoms highlights the Kushan Empire (first to third century AD), which had contact with China and the Roman Empire. The Gupta Empire of the fourth century corresponds to the Classical Period, and it is marked by development of the arts, interrupted by the invasions of the Huns. The Late Middle Kingdoms form the medieval period until the thirteenth century, when Turks and Afghans created the Sultanate of Delhi, which fell in 1398, allowing the Gonds Kingdoms to emerge.

Until AD 800, art was dominated by warriors, which testified to troubled times and danger. During the Late Historic or Medieval Period, from 800 to 1300, the chronology of the art was more able to be confirmed due to the presence of particular weapons (for example, sword styles have already been documented elsewhere).

Today, traditional ceremonies are still taking place in various painted shelters at Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Rajasthan. The persistence of such beliefs and ceremonies in the modern world is remarkable.

(left) This strange scene involves warriors fighting a partly dressed lion with horns, standing with its arms aggressively outstretched. One of the warriors has been killed; he has lost his arms and his head. The other warrior behind him, depicted with a headdress of the Kushan period, is armed with a curved sword and a small shield, and is facing the lion. This well-known traditional motif called vyala can be found carved in temples. (right) In Indian history elephants were widely used in warfare. Two elephants are well decorated in the bichrom style, their body is filled with creamish white and decorated with red outlines. The elder one is following the young one, probably a king or chief of the army is riding him, a small figure of a man in red is also painted in standing position on top of his head near a big ear, could be a mahout who is controlling him.
(left) This strange scene involves warriors fighting a partly dressed lion with horns, standing with its arms aggressively outstretched. One of the warriors has been killed; he has lost his arms and his head. The other warrior behind him, depicted with a headdress of the Kushan period, is armed with a curved sword and a small shield, and is facing the lion. This well-known traditional motif called vyala can be found carved in temples. (right) In Indian history elephants were widely used in warfare. Two elephants are well decorated in the bichrom style, their body is filled with creamish white and decorated with red outlines. The elder one is following the young one, probably a king or chief of the army is riding him, a small figure of a man in red is also painted in standing position on top of his head near a big ear, could be a mahout who is controlling him.
(left) Churna. Medieval. (right) Churna, Pachmarhi. Historic.

Powerful Images India Indian Rock Art from early to recent times Archaeology National Museum and Research Center of Altamira Rock Art Network RAN
Representation of various mothers delivering babies.
Representation of various mothers delivering babies.
Bhimbetka. Mesolithic.
A Rich Heritage

Abundance and diversity of themes

The diversity of animals and ways to represent them is much greater than what is found in European cave art. For example, nearly thirty different animal species were identified in rock art of Central India.

Humans are generally dominant and nearly always at least present, even among the earliest paintings. In their case, too, variety was the main characteristic, even if they seemed to have been given fewer details.

Indian rock art is well known for the multiplicity of signs, symbols, vulvas, cup marks, footprints, and handprints, both negative and positive, in its rock shelters. The subjects represented are varied and numerous. Depending on the periods and the areas, their relative proportions may change significantly.

The techniques used

Among the colours used, red, which comes from iron oxides such as haematite, was dominant during all periods. White, from a white clay like kaolin, has also been widely used. Yellow ochre is also commonly used. Other colours, such as green and black, are not as common. Paintings were made by rubbing the colour nodule, either wet or dry, using fingertips, twigs, and hair brushes, or by spraying with the mouth to make hand stencils. Engravings have also been found in a few rock art sites, but mainly in the states of Ladakh, Kerala, and Manipur.

Reliable dates for the paintings have not yet been determined, but dating attempts have been made by relying on the subjects represented, their superimpositions, and their styles. It has been hypothesized that some rock art (for example, the rare green paintings in the Raisen area of Madhya Pradesh was created during the Upper Palaeolithic era more than ten thousand years ago.

Representation of a mythical boar chasing a man running away
Bhimbetka
Mesolithic
 
Representation of a wild boar and a turtle
Dharul
Mesolithic
 
Representation of a pair of deer
Urden
Neolithic
 
Three hand stencils
Korba, Chhattisgarh
Mesolithic
 
A set of hand stencils
Korba, Chhattisgarh
Mesolithic
 
Representation of a porcupine and a hunter
Rajat Prapat
Mesolithic
(left) Representation of a monitor lizard. (centre) Representation of a rhino. (right) Representation of two couples and hand stencil.
(left) Representation of a monitor lizard. (centre) Representation of a rhino. (right) Representation of two couples and hand stencil.
(left) Kabra Pahar, Chhattisgarh. Mesolithic. (centre) Urden. Mesolithic. (right) Kumalwa. Mesolithic.
Representation of geometric signs
Ushakothi
Neolithic
 
Engraved vulvas, footprints and tiny cupmarks
Salbardi
Mesolithic
 
Scene of the horse riders made with wet red ochre from iron oxide, haematite and brush, prepared with tender bamboo. It is still popular among the local tribes
Bhimbetka
Medieval
 
Superimposed panels painted with white clay like kaolin. First layer images were made by rubbing the dry color nodule, and the top layer scene of a tree worship and musics is painted with wet color
Batki Bundal, Pachmarhi
Neolithic and Historic
 
Geometric signs engraved and filled with white
Rajat Prapat, Pachmarhi
Mesolithic
 
Bowls made with leaves to mixed colour. Red is iron oxide or Geru. White clay is Khadiya or kaolin. Brush is made with tender bamboo sticks
At Chatuerbhujnath nala
Photo: Meenakshi Dubey-Pathak
(left) Representation of geometric signs. (centre) Red, yellow, white, black and green colors nodules. Leaves bowls to keep water for mixing color. Bamboo brush and porcupine quills. (right) This long image is probably a masked shaman painted with white clay and brush, holding a long stick on his shoulders and arrows in his hands with a number of circles or symbolic skulls hanging to it. There could be tiny dots inside the circles that have been made with porcupine quills. Below his legs, there are a number of warriors holding swords, shields and arches that have been made in a bichrome color scheme: body filled with white or yellow and outlined with red.
(left) Representation of geometric signs. (centre) Red, yellow, white, black and green colors nodules. Leaves bowls to keep water for mixing color. Bamboo brush and porcupine quills. (right) This long image is probably a masked shaman painted with white clay and brush, holding a long stick on his shoulders and arrows in his hands with a number of circles or symbolic skulls hanging to it. There could be tiny dots inside the circles that have been made with porcupine quills. Below his legs, there are a number of warriors holding swords, shields and arches that have been made in a bichrome color scheme: body filled with white or yellow and outlined with red.
(left) Bhimlat, Rajasthan. Mesolithic. (centre) At Pachmarhi site. Photo: Wakankar. (right) Bori, Pachmarhi. Historic.

Powerful Images India Indian Rock Art from early to recent times Archaeology National Museum and Research Center of Altamira Rock Art Network RAN
An Engraved Landscape, Ladakh

Ladakh

Ladakh in the Himalayas is one of the most elevated regions on earth and has been inhabited by humans since the Stone Age. The cultural heritage of Ladakh has long attracted the attention of various scholars, researchers, archaeologists, and explorers. The petroglyph engravings on rocks in the Ladakh region numbers in the thousands. Their ages range between five hundred and five thousand years ago. They are often found in valleys and along rivers, mainly near settlements and resting places. Various phases of evolution in the art are evident. The petroglyphs were primarily made on dark boulders coated with desert or rock varnish. The ancient artists used smooth, flat surfaces. Animal representations are abundant, as are hunting scenes and undetermined motifs.

The oldest Ladakh petroglyphs may be about five thousand years old. Animals are larger in size, signifying their importance as they provided the much-needed food and hides necessary to survival in the harsh climatic conditions of the cold Ladakh deserts. Hunting scenes of ibex, stags, and yaks are also depicted. With the arrival of Buddhism in the region some two thousand years ago, the subjects of petroglyphs shifted from hunting scenes and other symbols to Chortens (a kind of temple) and ibex, an animal blessed by the Lord Buddha. Of the petroglyphs that appear to belong to very recent times, none of the Chortens have rock varnish on them.

The majority of the Indus valley petroglyphs were made after the millennium turned from BC to AD. A large number of them testify to the emergence of Buddhism. Presenting the picture of a Stupa (a religious monument) was obviously considered a good deed. This accounts for the innumerable drawings of Stupas on rocks in the Indus Valley. Many are accompanied by an inscription from the first centuries AD.

A scene of mixed themes such as dancers, horse riders, ibex, horse, sheep and goats with oversized horns
Nyrula
Historic
 
Representation of a stupa with a Brahmi inscription
Tangste
Early Historic
 
Representation of a big ibex and a pot
Tangste
Neolithic
 
Stupas engraved on a big boulder. Carvings of high quality contain more decorative elements along with the birds and incense burner. These Stupas are decorated with hemispherical domes
Alchi
Histórico
 
A large herd of Ibex are superimposed with stupas/chortens
Alchi
Histórico
 
A big rock engraved with diverse motifs from different periods. The earliest ones nearly disappear under patina but the later ones are visible with some superimpositions. Such as yak, stag, sheep, hunters with bow and arrow, horse rider, trident, chortans/stupa and also script.
Tangste
Del Neolítico al periodo histórico

Powerful Images India Indian Rock Art from early to recent times Archaeology National Museum and Research Center of Altamira Rock Art Network RAN
Sacred Animals

The play of animals in tribal cultures

Representation of a man with the hide and mask of a lion or tiger
Representation of a man with the hide and mask of a lion or tiger.
Bori, Pachmarhi. Historic.
The animal-god most respected and revered is the tiger. People worship him so that he will not harm their cattle. In the Bori area of Pachmarhi, we have found images of a man or a shaman riding a tiger. In the past, elders would meet outside the village, and the Bhagat (a religious devotee) would call the tiger with special chants. When the tiger came, he was offered chickens and coconuts. The elders would burn incense and pray to the tiger. This would ensure that their village would be safe from him. In April and October, they specifically worshipped the Goddess Kali. Then, they put on tiger masks, painted their bodies with stripes, put on tails, and became tigers.

Ibex, with long curved horns dropping onto their backs, were an important status symbol and often appeared on the rocks. A majority of ibex images are represented with male sexual organs. The ibex is a symbol of fertility according to pre-Buddhist religions. Some communities still worship during the Tibetan new year festival Losar by making offerings to the engraved ibex on the boulders, with a belief that it will lead to conception and bring a child to the family.

Snakes are also important. As with tigers, they are represented to prevent harm. In the Dharul area, we saw many sanctuaries to them, either on the roadside or in the jungle. In many areas of Central India, for the Naga Panchami Festival during the monsoon season, serpents are painted―on both sides of the door―with charcoal made from acacia wood. The charcoal powder is mixed with milk, water, or purified butter. Offerings (food, milk, coconut) made to the image are accompanied by prayers not to be harmed by snakes.

Cow and bull worship is also common among the tribes during the Diwali festival. They start preparing their cattle in the morning by washing, painting, and decorating them lavishly with handprints and symbols before feeding them special food. Early in the morning, the Shepherd will dance, make three rounds of the village, and do certain spells to safeguard the cattle from diseases. During the Pola Festival, they use terracotta bulls to show respect to their animals.

Horse sanctuaries near the roadside or in the jungle represent other local gods.

Losar festival
Losar festival.
Ladakh.
 
Representation of a long snake
Representation of a long snake.
Churanchhaj, Shivpuri. Historic.
 
For Nag Panchami, snakes have been painted next to the door. The woman of the house is offering milk to them. The protective figure below was made during the Hariyali Amawasya festival (“no moon night”)
Snakes painted by the door.
Kurana Village.
 
A cow with its body covered over with a number of designs in various colors: dots, stars, fingermarks, small triangles, a wavy line like a snake along its spine, a big auspicious motif on it side
Badwai village.
Madhya Pradesh.
 
An altar with horses. Horses sanctuaries near the road side or in the jungle represent some local gods
Alchi
Chhattisgarh.
 
Representation of a horse.
Representation of a horse.
Urden. Raisen. Historic.
(top left) Men dressed as lions are dancing during Navratri festival. (top right) Representation of an ibex with long curved horns. (bottom left) A huge bull with dots painted in red is facing left. Its inside is filled with various non interpretable motifs. A small stag is overcrossed by the right horn, while a very small man holding a big fish is a bit higher. Right behind him there is a much bigger man with a striated body. Just above its back there are faint traces of animals with body decoration from the Mesolithic. Behind the bull is a hodgepodge of representations with many superimpositions. (bottom right) Beautifully adorned cattle for the Pola festival in Chhattisgarh are being hand fed.
(top left) Men dressed as lions are dancing during Navratri festival. (top right) Representation of an ibex with long curved horns. (bottom left) A huge bull with dots painted in red is facing left. Its inside is filled with various non interpretable motifs. A small stag is overcrossed by the right horn, while a very small man holding a big fish is a bit higher. Right behind him there is a much bigger man with a striated body. Just above its back there are faint traces of animals with body decoration from the Mesolithic. Behind the bull is a hodgepodge of representations with many superimpositions. (bottom right) Beautifully adorned cattle for the Pola festival in Chhattisgarh are being hand fed.
(top left) Jabalpur district. (top right) Ladakh. Neolithic. (bottom left) Jaora. Madhya Pradesh. Mesolithic to Neolithic. (bottom right) Chhattisgarh.

Powerful Images India Indian Rock Art from early to recent times Archaeology National Museum and Research Center of Altamira Rock Art Network RAN
The Prevalence of Rock Art

A living tradition

Riding a horse is still the traditional way of carving the deceased on Korkus’ mundas/funerary boards
Riding a horse is still the traditional way of carving the deceased on Korkus’ mundas/funerary boards.
A living tradition
India is one of the rare places in the world where one can find extensive spectacular rock art still regularly visited for traditional ceremonies, as well as several forms of tribal art with striking similarities in imagery and function to ancient forms. This means that traditions are still alive in the remote forest areas of the state. For example, the many warriors represented have different attire and armaments, depending on their period. The purposes of painting them on the walls may also have been quite different. For example, in times of peace for the purpose might be the tribe’s well-being (health of people and animals, ensuring good crops, etc.), while in troubled times, they might have drawn soldiers to counteract their physical power over the tribe. Rock art is alive. It is inseparable from the social and historical conditions of the times.

The paintings in shelters, like all other tribal arts, were obviously created within well-established traditions according to local myths and cultural practices. Also, they told or supported stories as a function of the events of the period (for example, war images). All of this did not prevent the painted shelters from maintaining a propitiatory role and being ceremonial places. This still goes on today, as we have recently discovered. Painted rock shelters have been converted into sanctuaries.

The importance and power of various animals, as well as their value as status symbols (horses, elephants), the role of trees, the sun and the moon, and the geometric signs that accompany all the major events in people’s lives are central to the profound meanings of both rock art and tribal art. The funerary pillars of the Korku, Gondi, Bhil, and Muria people are always carved or painted with a variety of animals. Such examples can be compared to representations of animals in local rock art.

Red dots and handprints are ubiquitous for their protective function. Red, white, and, less frequently, yellow hand stencils and footprints are a particular motif in the rock art and tribal art of Central India.

Painted rock shelter converted into a sanctuary. The paintings in the shelters, like all other tribal arts, were obviously created within well-established traditions, according to the local myths and cultural practices. In addition, they told or supported stories in function of the events of the period considered (for example, the war images). All this did not prevent the painted shelters from keeping a propitiatory role and from being places of ceremonies. They still go on nowadays as we could recently find out
Painted rock shelter sanctuary.
Prevalence of Rock Art.
 
Korku women paint traditional designs on the wall of their home during wedding or Diwali festival
Diwali festival.
A living tradition.
 
Two masked dancers facing each other, have big animal heads with horns
Two masked dancers.
A living tradition.
 
Pareba Pahari. As Kol tribes still do at festivals
Kol tribes.
Pareba Pahari.
 
Recent motifs (godhanis) made every year for Diwali by tribal women in a painted shelter. Ceremonial deposits at bottom right (trident, pots, lamp, stone with red dots)
Motifs.
Munshadeo.Dharul (Betul area).
 
Bhil tribes make pithoras (main painted wall inside a house). There are very different Pithoras and various forms of art in nature or on people’s and cattle’s bodies. Their main purposes, like the ceremonies that often accompany them, are to ensure health and prosperity
Bhil tribes make pithoras.
Prevalence of Rock Art.


Organized

Museo Nacional y Centro de Investigación de Altamira. Ministerio de Cultura y Deporte

Funding

Subdirección General de Museos Estatales. Ministerio de Cultura y Deporte

Curator

Meenakshi Dubey-Pathak | Investigadora independiente y experta en arte rupestre | Independent Rock Art Researcher and Expert, Bhopal

Coordinator

Pilar Fatás | Museo de Altamira

Photos

Meenakshi Dubey-Pathak
Vishnu Shreedhar Wakankar

Drawing

J. Cockburn
F. Fawcett
C.W. Anderson
D.H. Gordon

Documentation Management

Maricer González Museo de Altamira
Ana López Pajarón (Museo Nacional de Antropología)

Design

Nexo

Installation

Serisan

Transport

SIT

Insurance

Correduría: Poolsegur
Aseguradora: Scor Europe S.E.

Acknowledgments

Indian Army for Exploring Ladakh area
The Forest Department of Madhya Pradesh State
The Forest Department of Chhattisgarh State
The Culture Department (Raipur, Chhattisgarh)
Wakankar Research Institute (Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh)
INTACH (Indian National Trust for Art, Culture and Heritage) New Delhi
Fernando Sáez Lara, Ana López Pajarón y Ana Gracia Rivas (Museo Nacional de Antropología)

And especially to

Vishnu Shreedhar Wakankar, Jean Clottes (France), Vivek Dhand (Chief Secretary, Raipur), Rakesh Chatuervedi (Chairman, Bio Diversity, Raipur), Amru, Lakshmi, Mohan, Netam, Prabhat, Bhodumal, Ajay, Jitendra, Sonam, Om Prakash, Luv Shekhawat, Abhimanyu, Kushagra and all people from different villages.

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→ Sigubudu: Paintings of people with guns in the northern uKhahlamba-Drakensberg
by Aron Mazel
22/07/2024
→ Prehistomania
by Richard Kuba
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→ Women Hunters in Indian Rock Art
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→ Sigubudu: Paintings of people with guns in the northern uKhahlamba-Drakensberg
by Aron Mazel
22/07/2024
→ Prehistomania
by Richard Kuba
13/06/2024
→ Women Hunters in Indian Rock Art
by Meenakshi Dubey-Pathak
8/03/2024
→ Vingen Rock Art in Norway at Risk
by Rock Art Network
6/02/2024
→ Professor emeritus Knut Arne Helskog is awarded the King's Medal of Merit
by Rock Art Network
14/12/2023
→ Escaped slaves, rock art and resistance in the Cape Colony, South Africa
by Sam Challis
5/12/2023
→ Markwe Cave, Zimbabwe
by Aron Mazel
30/11/2023
→ Art and Influence, Presence and Navigation in Southern African Forager Landscapes
by Sam Challis
21/11/2023
→ History debunked: Endeavours in rewriting the San past from the Indigenous rock art archive
by Sam Challis
15/11/2023
→ Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and forager theories of disease in nineteenth century southern Africa, and its implications for understanding images of conflict in San rock art
by Sam Challis
10/11/2023
→ Ancient Aboriginal rock carvings vandalised
by Rock Art Network
6/11/2023
→  Two NSW men found guilty of using oily handprints to damage sacred Uluru cave art
by Rock Art Network
3/11/2023
→  Reflecting on the abundance of sheep and baboon paintings in Junction Shelter, Didima Gorge, South Africa
by Aron Mazel
2/11/2023
→  Rock Art Sites Protection and Guides Training In Satpura Tiger Reserve
by Meenakshi Dubey-Pathak
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→  Rock art and frontier conflict in Southeast Asia: Insights from direct radiocarbon ages for the large human figures of Gua Sireh, Sarawak
by Paul Taçon
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→  Beginning of a Rock Art Journey - Recording Paintings in the uKhahlamba-Drakensberg 1979 - 1980
by Aron Mazel
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→  Murujuga's rock art is at risk – where is the outrage?
by Paul Taçon
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→  Identifying the artists of some of Australia's earliest art
by Paul Taçon
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→ Between Monument and Water: Burial rites, location of megalithic monuments and rock art of the Kilmartin Valley, Argyll, Western Scotland (Stage 1 of the Motifs and Monuments Project)
by George Nash
14/03/2023
→ Rock Art Training and Recording Petroglyphs in Laos
by Noel Hidalgo Tan
10/02/2023
→ Unlocking a hidden landscape
by George Nash
01/02/2023
→ 'Powerful Images - Indian rock art from its earliest times to recent times'
by Meenakshi Dubey-Pathak, Pilar Fatás Monforte
29/11/2022
→ Signalling and Performance: Ancient Rock Art in Britain and Ireland
by Aron Mazel, George Nash
21/09/2022
→ Histories of Australian Rock Art Research
by Paul S.C. Taçon, Sally K. May, Ursula K. Frederick, Jo McDonald
07/07/2022
→ Rock Art and Tribal Art: Madhya Pradesh
by Meenakshi Dubey-Pathak
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→ Marra Wonga: Archaeological and contemporary First Nations interpretations of one of central Queensland’s largest rock art sites
by Paul Taçon
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→ David Coulson MBE
by David Coulson
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→  Extraordinary Back-to-Back Human and Animal Figures in the Art of Western Arnhem Land, Australia: One of the World's Largest Assemblages
by Paul Taçon
25 April 2022
→  An online course by SEAMEO Regional Centre for Archaeology and Fine Arts (SPAFA)
by Noel Hidalgo Tan
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→  Cupules and Vulvas in the Alwar area, Rajasthan
by Meenakshi Dubey-Pathak
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→  Color Engenders Life - Hunter-Gatherer Rock Art in the Lower Pecos Canyonlands
by Carolyn Boyd & Pilar Fatás
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→  David Coulson receives RGS Cherry Kearton Award
by David Coulson
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→  Vandalised petroglyphs in Texas
by Johannes H. N. Loubser
06 February 2022
→  Hand Stencils in Chhattisgarh
by Meenakshi Dubey-Pathak
05 February 2022
→  And then they were gone: Destruction of the Good Hope 1 rock paintings
by Aron Mazel
28 January 2022
→  Early masterpieces: San hunter-gatherer shaded paintings of the uKhahlamba-Drakensberg and surrounding areas
by Aron Mazel
8 September 2021
→  Aїr Mountains Safari - Sahara
by David Coulson
17 August 2021
→  The Neolithic rock art passage tombs of Anglesey as brand-new virtual tours
by Ffion Reynolds
21 June 2021
→ More Rock Art Network Articles
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