Celebrate India - World Heritage Day

Celebrate India - World Heritage DayRevisiting Bhimbetka on World Heritage DayWith people from such incomparable backgrounds, languages in so many scripts, food withsuch myriad flavors, clothes with such contrasting designs, cultures with no commonalities anda history going farther back than anyone else’s in the entire world, words like diverse, unique,mysterious, and ancient seem like such understatements when used to describe this fascinatingplace we call India. However, this blog is about a place that is famous for none of the above.The mysterious and magical destination I am talking about is the World Heritage siteof Bhimbetka rockshelters, located inthe Raisen district,Madhya Pradesh. The site is beyond ancient; it’s pre-historic and is popularfor its cave paintings that exhibit the earliest traces of human life in India. And, I am not talkingabout a few thousand years, I am talking about a beauty that is anywhere between 30,000 to1,00,000 years old. Ya! Try wrapping your brains around that one; took me a while too.I was lucky to have visited this place at all because I didn’t even know about it when I wentto Bhopal a few years back. It was a chance meeting with a fellow tourist in a café whointroduced me to this place’s existence. Her enthusiasm and sense of fulfillment she derivedfrom her trip to Bhimbetka aroused my curiosity too! It was convenient to accommodate too asit is only 46 km from the city, only a day’s excursion. So, early next morning I took the local bus

to Bhimbetka and what a marvelous short trip it was. Bhimbetka is located right in the middleof a tropical forest which is home to an amazing variety of flora & fauna. Unbelievable that it’sonly 46 km from the state capital.As for the cave paintings themselves I just can’t say enough that is why I’m not going to. But, itshould suffice to say that they are the closest depictions of events that took place during aperiod of time about which they are the only recorded evidence. There are hundreds ofpaintings but neither will you be able to see them all in one day nor will you be allowed to, forfear that people might tamper with them or damage them. However, there are plenty still thatare open for viewing to general public but from a small distance.I had seen cave paintings before this one but not from that time period. That is why it was trulycaptivating. The paintings were no great works of art but they were great when seen in contextof the time in which they were painted. They were crude representations of the cave dweller’slife and rituals, usually depicting hunting, dancing, animal fighting, horse riding, along withmany animals like tigers, elephants, horses, wild bears, antelopes etc. I realized that many ofthe paintings were overlapping others which seemed to be even older but what was mostfascinating was how the colour still survived on the rocks.I wish I could spend more time elaborating my experience but hey my job is just make you alittle bit more aware and a whole lot more curious. Therefore, I will finish right here becauseafter this there is not much to tell because that’s where the trip ended and I went back with thebus to the city.I shall take your leave now,Until next time,Travel safe and Travel Happy,Ciao.

Celebrate India - World Heritage Day

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