Comfortably Numb

Sheila Kumar's Storehouse

Published on: 02/13/13 12:15 PM

Travel: Bhimbetka Caves, Madhya Pradesh

 

 

 

 

Rock stars

Sheila Kumar and her intrepid aunt Uma  take off to view the Bhimbetka rock shelters near Bhopal 

 

“Why not Khajuraho? Or the Orchcha temples? The stupa at Sanchi? We could have chilled out at Panchmarhi, or gone tiger-spotting in Bandavgarh.”

 

The person shooting off these questions is me. The person declining to answer them is my aunt Uma.

 

Bertie Wooster had a whole clutch of aunts; I have just the one. Sometimes, I think one is more than enough.

 

My mother’s sister Uma was born under a travelling star. Age has  not slowed her down much that I can perceive. At 57, she brings all the curiosity and enthusiasm of a female Bruce Chatwin to the places she goes to.

 

As the chosen one who accompanies Uma on all her trips inside and outside India, it is I who ometimes feel my age.

 

Today, we are 45 kms south of the capital city of Madhya Pradesh, Bhopal, driving through barren landscape on bad roads towards the prehistoric caves of Bhimbetka. Aunty Uma always, but always, takes the road less travelled.

 

The day is a bleak one, the grey slow-moving clouds overhead matching the boulder-splattered plains, which in turn complement the ridge of glistening black rock that rises above us on the crest of the Vindhya ranges.

 

Sal forests, now standing stark and shorn of leaves, line what passes for a road in Madhya Pradesh. Aunty and the driver Mahesh Kumar are talking about Bhimbetka.

 

Where Bhima took a break

It’s said that Bhima, the mighty Pandava, had rested awhile here, long ago, hence the name Bhim-bet-ka. However, it is clear that beyond his muttered “etihaasik gufa” (historical cave), Mahesh Kumar’s knowledge of the caves  is desultory at best.

 

 

 

Aunty is about to broaden his horizons though. Mine, too.

 

“Bhimbetka has South Asia’s richest collection of prehistoric paintings,” she says, with nary
a look at her guidebook.

 

“The rock shelters date back to the Neolithic age, 5,500-1,000 BC. This wilderness we are passing now is the Ratapani Wildlife Sanctuary, famous for its leopards, jackals, and sloth bears.”

 

Then Mahesh Kumar breaks in excitedly, “Ji haan! When the intense cold gives over, all the animals Auntyji talked about come out.”Auntyji looks suitably gratified.

 

The moment we reach the parking lot, a guide, the lone human out there, comes up. He says the Archaeological Survey of India  guide is not around but he, Shashi, would show us around the caves.

 

We follow him up the thin gravel path that leads to gigantic  rock formations standing majestically against the skyline. “The caves are 1,000 years old,” he begins his spiel in a practiced tone.

 

 

“No, they are not,” Aunty tells him kindly, but firmly. “The earliest paintings go back to between 10,000 and 25,000 years ago.”

Not the most auspicious of starts.

 

Fascinating time warp

It’s like being in a time warp. Bhimbetka is a ridge that rises over what were once dense forests. Serrated masses of enigmatic rock stand stolid, with all indications that a ragged river and many creeks may have run through here at some time.

 

The rock shelters, grooves and grottoes stretch for some 10 km and look like a throwback to biblical times, especially the overhanging rock ledges. All of it is enveloped in an eerie silence with an occasional wind whistling through the 30 species of trees, all bare now.

 

We get to see 15 of the 600 excavated caves, set in rock formations straight out of a Tim Burton film. It says 600 in my guidebook; Shashi says there are over 1,000 caves, big and small, in Bhimbetka.  Aunty wants to speak but catches my eye and keeps quiet.

 

The day has become greyer now and a sharp, cold wind whistles through the denuded branches. Brittle leaves crunch underfoot. We really seem to have left all vestiges of civilisation behind.

 

On the heels of that thought, a crackling noise makes me jump. It is Aunty opening a packet of chips. She is addicted to them, wolfing them down by the pack, neatly folding the empty packets and keeping them in her handbag till she comes upon a waste bin. Excellent tactic to stave off hunger when there are no food or drink stalls around, as is the case here.

 

Bhimbetka by night, I think to myself, must be the scariest place on earth.

 

“This place,” pronounces Aunty happily, “is wonderful. It’s like a prehistoric artists’ colony.”

 

She is right. What prolific artists these people were! The tracings, going all the way back to the Palaeolithic, Mesolithic, Chaleolithic and Medieval ages, depict the lives of the cave dwellers executed in red, green, yellow and white using silk cotton, animal fur or squirrel tail, coal, haematite, manganese and soft red stone, even the fat of animals, and crushed leaves.

Some were done at a height that probably involved the use of some sort of ladder.

 

 

 

The colours are subtle, and have remained intact owing to the chemical reaction from the oxide on the surface of the rocks – an example of nature helping art.

 

The artists seemed to have a particular fondness for animals, since depictions of deer, boar, leopards, tigers, panthers, rhinoceroses, antelope, fish, frogs, lizards, squirrels and birds abound. The more predatory the animal, the larger it looms next to insignificant man in these paintings.

 

It was a busy life for prehistoric man. Hunting, dancing, horse and elephant rides, gathering food, attending animal fights and masked ceremonies, drinking bouts, burials, the paintings chronicle lives long gone but not forgotten.

 

Not as long as these amazing paintings exist. Interestingly, superimposition on some paintings shows that some of the canvases had been used again and again by different artists. Apart from some skeletons – the dead were buried under the floor of these very caves and the excavated grave of a 12-ft skeleton is now in the Museum of Natural History in Kolkata – blades, scrapers, cleavers, axes and even the remains of food-stuff were excavated from this area.

 

It is a play of darkness and light as we walk in the wintry sunlight, peer into shallow caverns.
Aunty observes, “There are no signboards or historical details in English. Most irritating.”

Shashi isn’t going to let that one be. “We are there to give ‘Englees’ tour, no?” he asks
indignantly. We opt for a tactful silence.

 

We turn for last looks at the rocks as we drive off. “It seems that when construction work was
on in these parts, sometime in 1956, a whole lot of prehistoric tools and implements were
dug up,” says Aunty. “It was as if a museum full of Palaeolithic relics lay just under the
topsoil.”

 

I look around at the singularly monotonous scenery and reflect that life is never as one-dimensional as one perceives it to be.

 

“Did you notice?” asks Aunty suddenly, with some asperity. “The prehistoric woman was
the archetypal Indian woman. She cooked, cleaned, bore children, and did nothing else.”

And then, inspiration strikes me. “Aunt Uma,” I say, earnestly. “How do you know the
artists weren’t women? The paintings are classic home décor.” Aunt Uma falls into a
reverie as she ponders this probability.

 

The drive back to Bhopal is a relatively silent one.

 

Good trip, this, I tell myself on a satisfied note. The caves were simply fascinating, a page from a history book coming alive.

 

And it isn’t often that I can have the last word with Aunt Uma.

 

FACT FILE
How to get there Bhimbetka is 45 km away from Bhopal but owing to the bad roads, the journey to the caves takes almost three hours.
Taxi fare: Aproximately Rs 1,200 to and from Bhopal. Bargaining is mandatory.
Air: Bhopal’s Raja Bhoj Airport has flights coming in from Mumbai, Delhi and Indore
Train: Bhopal is a major junction with trains coming in from the north, west and south
Cave timings: 10 am to 5 pm; Mondays closed
Entry fee: Rs 14 including vehicle, $5 for foreigners
Where to stay Bhopal has a couple of deluxe hotels, like the Noor-Us-Sabah Palace, a Welcom Heritage property, and the Jehan Numa Palace, privately owned by the Nawabs of Bhopal, and other more modest ones like the Ranjeet Lake View Hotel.
Name Address Tel Email
MP State Tourism Development Corporation 4th Floor, Gangotri, TT Nagar, Bhopal-462003 0755-2774340/42/43 [email protected]
Jehan Numa Palace 157, Shamla Hills, Bhopal 0755-2661100
Noor-Us-Sabah Palace VIP Road, Koh-e-FizaBhopal-462001 0755-5223333
Ranjeet Lake View Hotel Van Vihar Road, Shamla Hills, Bhopal 0755-2660600

Featured in Harmony Magazine, March 2005

All photos are by Sheila Kumar and subject to copyright.

Related Links:

Travel: Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh

Travel: Sanchi, Madhya Pradesh

Travel: Bhojeshwar Temple, Madhya Pradesh

Travel: Kanha, Madhya Pradesh

Travel: Chausat Yogini temple in Jabalpur

Travel: Khajuraho, all sexed up

Travel: Marble Rocks, Jabalpur

 

BhimbetkaHarmony magazineMadhya Pradeshprehistoric cave paintingprehistoric caves

Sheila Kumar • February 13, 2013


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