Anthropological Sites
The sprawling caves of Bhimbetka located in a dyke of the Narmada valley at about 45 km (28.0 mi) northeast of Bhopal (between Bhopal and Hoshangabad highway) depicts pre–historic rock shelter paintings (considered an invaluable chronicle in the history of man) which are sculpted on the crest of the Vindhyan heights. The Bhimbetka rock shelters, discovered in 1957–58 is a natural art gallery and an archaeological treasure considered as one of the oldest human habitation in India where the caves house rock paintings, created by man from as early as about 15,000 years ago in vivid and panoramic detail. The rock paintings here track the gradual progress and various adaptations that the prehistoric man was making in his lifestyle. It is a World Heritage site.
Bhimbetka owes its name to the characters of the longest epic in the world, the Mahabharata. It is believed that when the five brothers, called Pandavas, were banished from their kingdom, they came here and stayed in these caves; the massive rocks seating the gigantic frame of Bhima is the second Pandava. Further evidence, cited in support of this theory, is the resemblance in names of the nearby places with the names of the Pandavas.
Read more about this topic: Narmada River