TIME-TRAVELLING THROUGH THE HEART OF INDIA

From Bhopal to Bhimbetka, visiting Madhya Pradesh can feel like rediscovering the motherland, says Vivek Menezes

- Vivek Menezes

Dawn breaks in a velvet blur at Bhimbetka. The pitch darkness admits a diamond glimmer, then softens. The rising sun reveals the verge of human history. Here are veils of sandstone, sculpted by aeons of wind and water into loops, swirls, crevices, narrow pathways. An eruption of birdsong and animal calls and someplace deep inside my consciousness begins transmitting an insistent signal to seek refuge. It’s a primal reminder of why our earliest ancestors first came to these most ancient rock shelters in the world.

In its World Heritage citation, UNESCO says Bhimbetka “reflects a long interaction between the people and the landscape, as demonstrated in the quality of its rock art [which] appears to date from the Mesolithic Period right through to the historical period. The cultural traditions of the inhabitants of the 21 villages adjacent to the site bear a strong resemblance to those represented in the rock paintings.” It is an understated way of saying the site represents an unbroken civilisational strand stretching past the dawn of recorded time.