Rock shelters of Madhya Pradesh

The state of Madhya Pradesh is rich in rock shelters and two-thirds of the rock shelters in India are found in the state.[1] The Vindhya and the Satpura ranges have many rock shelter sites. These sites consist of natural caves or sheltered area under rock outcrops. Some of these rock shelter sites also have paintings and other marks of human habitation. These shelters are a record of the early human settlements in the central region of India.

Rock shelters

Bhimbetka rock shelters

Main article: Bhimbetka rock shelters

The rock shelters of Bhimbetka are southeast of Bhopal in Raisen District. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site spread over seven hills and about 750 rock shelters. Many of these caves have paintings on the walls or on the underside of rock overhangs. The paintings consist of groups of people engaged in different activities. There also many paintings of different species of animals like elephants, bison, deer etc.[2]

These rock shelters are listed as Monuments of National Importance. N-MP-225

Ambadevi rock shelters

Main article: Ambadevi rock shelters

The Ambadevi rock shelters are located in the Satpura Range in Betul District. This site has About 100 rock shelters. Of this 30 shelters contain hundreds of pictographs, petroglyphs and stone artifacts.

Adamgarh rock shelter

Adamgarh Hills rock shelters are located in Narmadapuram district. At the time of excavations 18 rock shelters were found of which 11 have visible paintings, others have faded with time and some due to vandalism by tourists.The paintings are simple without any details or proportions.Paintings are of battle scenes, riders on horse-back, soldiers with bows and arrows, quiver and scabbard. Some paintings are of animals like oxen, monkeys, horses, fish, peacocks, and in one case a giraffe. These rock shelters are listed as Monuments of National Importance. N-MP-151

Dorothy deep Rock Shelter

Pachmarhi hills in Narmadapuram district have many rock shelters at various locations. These shelters also have paintings in them.[3][4] These rock shelters are listed as Monuments of National Importance. N-MP-153

Rock Shelters Barhat

Rock Shelters with megaliths, and cave paintings and inscriptions are located at Barhat Deur Kothar in Rewa district There are 63 rock shelters with rock paintings. These rock shelters are listed as Monuments of National Importance.N-MP-230

Saru Maru Caves

The Saru Maru site is located near the village of Pan Guradia in Sehore District. There are as many as forty-five rock shelters distributed between Shahganj and Pan Guradia, an area of about 40 km long located north of Narmada. Some of these shelters have paintings of hunting scenes and horse-riders. There are later period Buddhist remains and broken Stupas at the site. These rock shelters are listed as Monuments of National Importance. N-MP-267

Talpura rock shelters

Talpura in Sehore district is an ancient rock shelters site overlooking the Narmada River. In all 5 rock shelters have been found with paintings of animals.[5]

These rock shelters are listed as Monuments of National Importance. N-MP-268

Chatarbhuj Nala rock shelters

The rock shelters called Chaturbhujnath Nala[6] stretch over the 5 km long trail with thousands of ancient rock paintings on the wall; Situated within the Gandhi Sagar Sanctuary near Bhanpura in Mandsaur district. This site has thousands of paintings celebrating their daily life.These rock shelters are listed as Monuments of National Importance. N-MP-291

Nearby is a hill known as "Dar Ki Chattan"[7] The site features almost 560 man-made cupules marked on the walls. It is supposed to be the earliest efforts of artistic expression by the human. Other nearby rock-art sites are Chiber Nala, Sita Khardi and Modi

Rock Shelters at Sita Khardi

These rock shelters with paintings are also located in the Gandhi Sagar Sanctuary near Bhanpura in Mandsaur district.These rock shelters are listed as Monuments of National Importance. N-MP-292

Pournkadanta, Painted rock shelter

This rock shelter is located near Dewra village[8] in Chhatarpur District.These rock shelters are listed as State Protected Monument. S-MP-52

Putlikadanta, Painted rockshelter

This rock shelter is located adjacent to Pournkadanta rock shelter near Dewra village in Chhatarpur District. These rock shelters are listed as State Protected Monument. S-MP-53

Others

Some other State Protected Monuments

  • S-MP-126 Painted Rock- shelters, Nos. 1 to 15 Jhinghari Katni
  • S-MP-240 Painted Rock- shelter Gaura Mountain Beechhee Sidhi
  • S-MP-243 Painted Rock- Shelter (Rani Machi) Sidhi
  • S-MP-244 Painted Rock- Shelter Beechhee Dholagiri Sidhi

In addition National Mission on Monuments and Antiquities lists following sites.[9]

  • Nagori Group of Rock shelters and other remains
  • Sanchi- Kanakheda Rock shelters behind the Sanchi hill
  • Rock shelters at Satkunda
  • Ramchhajja group of rock shelters
  • Group of rock shelters at Kharwai
  • Painted rock shelters and other remains at Kulhariya
  • Painted rock shelters and other remains Barjorpur

and many more.[10][11]

References

  1. ^ "Contribution of Ancient Madhya Pradesh to Sanskrit Learning". Journal of the Ganganatha Jha Kendriya Sanskrit Vidyapeetha: 8. 1986.
  2. ^ The Map, Academy. "Bhimbetka cave paintings". smarthistory. Retrieved 2 July 2025.
  3. ^ Dubey Pathak, Dr. Meenakshi. "The Prehistoric Paintings of the Pachmarhi Hills". Bradshaw Foundation. Retrieved 2 July 2025.
  4. ^ Dubey-Pathak, Meenakshi. "Rock Art of Pachmarhi Hills in India". The Leakey Foundation. Retrieved 2 July 2025.
  5. ^ Poojari, Rajesh. "Exploration and documentation of rock art sites in the Vindhyan Hills of Madhya Pradesh (central India) and implications for their conservation". ResearchGate. Retrieved 2 July 2025.
  6. ^ "Chaturbhujnath Nala Rock Shelters - An iconic site that portrays ancient lifestyle!". MpTourism. Retrieved 2 July 2025.
  7. ^ Kumar, Dr. Giriraj. "Petroglyphs in Daraki-Chattan". Rock Art India. Retrieved 2 July 2025.
  8. ^ Dehuri, Rajendra. "Rock art of Bijawar Sub-division: study in light of Putlikadanta and Pournkadanta rock art site, Chhatarpur District, Madhya Pradesh, India". ResearchGate. Retrieved 2 July 2025.
  9. ^ Ministry of Culture, ASI. "State Wise Search Result Madhya Pradesh". National Mission on Monuments and Antiquities. Retrieved 2 July 2025.
  10. ^ Jain, Ritika. "Preliminary report on the painted Rock Shelters of Rajiv Gandhi Proudyogiki Vishwavidyalaya, Bhopal district". ShodhKosh: Journal of Visual and Performing Arts. Retrieved 2 July 2025.
  11. ^ Ingole, Vijay Tulsiram. "Discovery of Painted Rockshelters from Satpura-Tapti Valley". ResearchGate. Retrieved 2 July 2025.

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