Bhimbetka rock shelters, a world heritage site

Bhimbetka rock shelters is a world heritage site declared in the year 2003. The area is full of thick vegetation thanks to the perennial water supplies, natural shelters, rich forest flora and fauna found in the area.

Bhimbetka rock shelters are located near Abdullaganj town, 45 kilometers south of Bhopal at the southern edge of the Vindhya hills, in the Raisen District of Madhya Pradesh in India. The Horld heritage site is located inside the Ratapani Wildlife Sanctuary.
It is said that some of these shelters were inhabited by Homo erectus more than 100,000 years ago and so exhibiting the earliest traces of human life on the Indian subcontinent

About Bhimbetka Rock Shelters
Among the Bhimbetka rock shelters, you can see some Stone Age rock paintings which are approximately 30,000 years old. Vegetable colours have been used have endured all this time because they have been used on the inside walls or deep inside the niche.
These paintings and the drawings can be dated through 7 different periods namely, Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Chalcolithic, Early historic and medieval periods. Different types of drawings and paintings have been used during different periods.
Period 1 had linear representations, in green and dark red, of huge figures of animals like rhinoceros, bison and tigers.
Period 2  shows humans as well as animals, hunting scenes, the weapons they usedlike barbed spears, pointed sticks, bows and arrows etc.
Period 3 belongs to the chalcolithic period and shows that they were in contact with the agricultural communities of the Malwa plains, exchanging goods with them.
Period 4 and 5 shows art belonging to the early historic period, schematic and decorative style painted in red, white and yellow.
Period 6 and 7 shows medieval images of geometric, linear and more schematic style but they show crudeness and degeneration in their style.

How to reach Bhimbetka Rock Shelters?
By Air : Bhimbetka Rock Shelters is located close to Bhopal and is just about 55 kilometers from the city.
Raja Bhoj airport of Bhopal is the nearest airport and most of the cites in India are connected with it.

By Rail: The nearest railway station to Bhimbetka rock shelters is Bhopal railway station. The station is about 37 kilometers away and is connected to other local railway stations

By Road: You can get transport buses plying regularly from Bhopal. Delhi is also connected to overnight luxury buses to Bhopal. After reaching Bhopal, you can get cabs or local transport to reach Bhimbetka Rock Shelters.