Bhimbetka Rock Shelters in Bhopal

Bhimbetka Rock Shelters is a symbol of prehistoric livings with depiction of ancient paintings and carving on rocks. There are 15 different kinds of rock shelters and caves in the rocky hills of Bhimbetka. The natural green vegetation of Bhimbetka adds to the liveliness of this unique archaeological site.   

I managed to a spare one day time from my weeks long carrier development program in Bhopal. I asked my friend to suggest some tourist places in Bhopal which can be seen in a day. Bhimbetka – he bawled in a second. He described the place as rocky hills having caves and rock shelters of our ancestors. My curiosity roused after i heard the Rock Shelters, i had never been to any such place before. I decided to visit this place, after all MP is famous for pre-historic caves and rock shelters, Udayagiri in Vidisha is one of such example. My friend later cautioned me that the best time to visit Bhimbetka is rainy season as there are ups and down in the hilly rocks and the scorching heat of sun might drain our energy.

It was end of October, but for Bhopal it seems summer has not yet ended. We packed some home cooked food and kept 5-6 bottle of water, and were comfortably accommodated in my friend’s Tata Zest car. We were four plus one kid, I preferred driving which is my all time favorite sports. We rushed toward the Hoshangabad road as my friend sitting beside me guide the route. I tried speeding up fast while escaping the dangerous path holes but soon i realised that the highway is just for namesake. But then i was enjoying maneuvering my new machine in hand. We stopped for a while in a mid way Dhaba for water-in-water-out and then moved again. Bhimbetka is about 45 km away from Bhopal city, we took right turn off the highway towards Bhimbetka Rock Shelters hill. A highway Retreat Hotel on the right side is the landmark for identifying the right turn towards Bhimbetka. The road towards the Bhimbetka  hill starts from there.

We were climbing the Bhimbetka hills towards the main archaeological site. It was steep slope up the hill and driving slow behind a tourist bus on a narrow road with 2-3 feet down on either side seems risky but the black beast undoubtedly ran smooth till we reach our destination. There were vehicle parking space, Clean toilets, drinking water facility and dustbins every where to keep the area clean.

We were in front of World heritage Site Bhimbetka, the first look was awesome. The rocks were arranged in such a fashion that it resembles someones’ home. Some says it was the place of shelter for Lord Bhim of epic Mahabharata.

The entrance starts with two caves one after other. We were walking inside the caves with our head high to see various intricate texture of rocks all around.  While our head was high and neck revolving, our leg were straight and firm, the credit goes to ASI (archaeological survey of India) who built the nice wooden pathways to take care of tourists.

While carefully noticing the Rock texture we came across some beautiful paintings carved on the Rock walls. It was really amazing to see the paintings which are million years old but still looks alive. When we crossed the two caves there were steps to reach another Rock shelters.

There were 15 Rock shelters depicted in the hill and the location of each one were nicely routed. When there were no rocks there were trees and greenery every where. We were walking on the pathways observing the natural beauty of rocks, some rocks resembling the head of a crocodile while other lookalike of frog.

We were roaming, taking photographs of each shelters and various designs of rocks and least bother about the sun, the best thing was the greenery every where and as my friend said the rainy season might add more beauty to this place. We met other tourist on the way and exchanged greetings, we noticed everyone were happy and cheerful.

When we came out of the site we moved little upside on the hill by car. There was a temple built inside one of the rock shelter. We offered prayer to the goddess of the temple and then sat to eat the food that we had carried with us. We rested for few minutes and then return back.

After seeing the place i definitely recommend this place as a picnic spot, Ideal for photography, and most importantly as a heritage site resemblance of history.