Who discovered Bhimbetka cave paintings of Madhya Pradesh during 1960's?
Dr. Wakankar
His full name is Dr. Vishnu Shridhar Wakankar. He was born on May 04, 1919, Neemuch, Madhya Pradesh. This year (04 May 2019 to 03 May 2020) is the birth centenary year of Dr. Wakankar. He was born on 4 May 1919 in Neemuch and died on 3 April 1988. He made art, culture and archeology an integral part of his life. Dr. Wakankar's worldwide fame was due to his discovery of the Bhimbetka group of caves in the year 1975, besides his worldwide fame in connection with the discovery of the Saraswati river. He was also awarded the Padma Shri in 1975.
Under the guidance of the famous archaeologist Dr. HD Sankalia who was the head of the Archaeological Department of the Deccan College, Pune, he got Ph.D. This degree was conferred on him by the University of Poona in 1973. The title of his research work is Painted Rock Shelters of India. It was published by the Directorate of Archeology, Archives and Museums in the year 2005.
Dr. Wakankar excavated historical sites throughout Malwa without any expectation.
They excavated the unfamiliar history of Manoti, Indergarh, Kayatha, Dagwada, Runija and Nagda to Mandsaur, Javad and Neemuch.
Dr. Wakankar did deep research on the architecture, craft and painting traditions of Malwa and published many papers.
He did the most important work while staying at the Scindia Oriental Research Institute of Ujjain that many rare manuscripts were collected and studied in this museum.
One of the characteristics of Dr. Wakankar was that he was a very good painter, so he also used to paint archaeological sites, just like the immortal traveler of Narmada himself.
Bhimbetka
Bhimbetka, located in Raisen district of Old Madhya Pradesh, has received the most evidence of cave paintings related to human activities.
Here both natural and exemplary and indicative images have been obtained.
The two caves here have been found in the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic period, one of which is a child's amulets, in witchcraft, a symbol of their faith.
There are signs of community life from here.
Bhimbetka is located at a distance of about 46 km southeast of Bhopal, the capital of the state of Madhya Pradesh.
Bhimbetka is one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites and this site was declared a World Heritage Site in the year 2003.
There are more than 750 rock caves have been found on the hill of Bhimbetka. It is one of the seven hills of this type, which are spread about 10 kilometers.
The color used in these paintings is believed to have been vegetative or botanical colors, which got fuzzier with time. These paintings were made deep on the inner walls.
Paintings can be classified under seven different periods. Along with being the watchdog of prehistoric art, it is a unique treasure of Indian architecture.
In fact, these caves are identified as the biggest prehistoric art treasures in the country. These caves were discovered by India's famous archaeologist Dr. VS Vakankar.
In 1958, he suddenly marked these caves from a distant hill on the way to Nagpur.
The name Bhimbetka is made up of two words, Bhima and Vatika.
It is related to the mythological Mahabharata story.
It is named after Bhima, one of the five Pandavas of the Mahabharata period.
The region gained immense fame with the discovery of Bhimbetka caves.
This entire area is covered with caves, there are about 600 caves here.
This entire area is lined with teak and sakhu trees among standing and scattered stones. The images carved in some of these caves are many ages old.
In fact, these cave paintings are the main attractions here and they match the savanna region of Australia and the tribal rock paintings of France done by the dwarfs of the Kalihari Desert.
Since these caves were used by the Adivasis as their home in various periods, the paintings carved here reflect their lifestyle and worldly activities.
The basic design and skillful selection of colors have given life to these activities of our ancestors.
Various community activities such as birth, death, religious rituals, dancing, hunting or hunting, animal battles and merriment have been included in these paintings.
Rhinoceros, tiger, bison, bear, antelope, boar, lion, elephant, lizard etc. can be seen in these pictures.
It is amazing to see that the colors that were filled in these paintings have remained the same till many eras.
Natural red and white colors are commonly used in these paintings. Often green and yellow are also used in them.
The oldest painting here is about 12 thousand years old while the most recent painting is thousand years old.
Only 12 caves are open for tourists.
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