MP: BRICS delegates explore the saga of millennia-old relationship between humans and nature at Bhimbetka; experience prehistoric rock art and natural-cultural heritage up close
Delegates of the BRICS Culture Working Group and Group of Ministers visited the UNESCO World Heritage Site Bhimbetka Rock Shelters on Sunday. More than 15 delegates from BRICS countries including South Africa, Indonesia, Russia and China closely experienced the thousands of years old human civilization, prehistoric rock paintings and natural-cultural heritage. The prehistoric and cultural heritage of Madhya Pradesh has once again registered its unique identity on the global stage.
During the guided heritage tour, the BRICS delegates visited various rock shelters and through these paintings, understood the lifestyle of prehistoric man, his social activities and his relationship with nature and wildlife. In particular, paintings of wildlife such as elephants, gaur, deer, monkeys, wild boars reflected the important place of the natural world in the life of ancient man and his artistic expression.
The rock paintings in the rock shelters of Bhimbetka are not only examples of ancient art, but they also offer a glimpse of the thousands-year-old relationship between humans and their natural surroundings. The paintings found here depict wildlife, human figures, hunting scenes, group activities and human connection with nature.
There are more than 750 rock shelters in Bhimbetka, of which paintings have been found in more than 100 rock shelters. These paintings show the continuity of artistic traditions of different periods.
Some paintings depict hunting and community activities, while paintings of the later period also depict scenes of processions, warriors, and mass rituals. For the delegates, this experience was not limited to just visiting archaeological sites, but became an opportunity to understand the evolutionary journey of human civilization through art.
These figures, carved on rocks thousands of years ago, still present the imagination, creativity and sensitivity of the humans of that time towards their surroundings.