ELEPHANTA CAVES

These Are Some Pictures Of Commemorative Board/Stone, Maps, Elephant Sculpture And Hundreds Of Years Old Network Of Elephanta Caves Located At Elephanta Island Near Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. The Elephanta Island Is located In The Arabian Sea. Elephanta Caves Consists Of Two Groups Of Caves; The First Is A Large Group Of Five Hindu Caves And The Second Is Smaller Group Of Two Buddhist Caves. The Hindu Caves Contain Rock Cut Stone Sculptures, Representing The Shaiva Hindu Sect, Dedicated To The Lord Shiva.This Rock Cut Architecture Of The Caves Has Been Dated Back Between The 5Th And The 8th Centuries A.D. The Identity Of The Original Builders Is Still A Subject Of Debate.The Ancient Elephant Sculpture From The Elephanta Island Is Transferred And Installed At The Victoria Garden Mombai Now.
It Is Written On One Of The Commemorative Board Erected Near Elephanta Caves By The Archaeological Survey Of India Mumbai Circle:

ELEPHANTA CAVES

' The Island Of Elephanta, Originally Known As Gharapuri, Derived Its Name From A Massive Stone Image Of Elephant Now Displayed In The"Veermata Jijabai Bhosale Garden" Victoria Garden In Mumbai. The Cave Complex Of Elephanta Comprises Total 7 Caves Of Then Five Are In Lower Western Side, While Two Are At The Eastern Top Of Hillock. Out Of Five Caves At The Lower Side The Cave No. 1 Is Exclusively Curved With Various Manifestation Of Lord Shiva. It Consists Of A Pillared Hall With A Small Shrine And Four Entrance Doors Flanked By The Guardians. While The Massive But Graceful Figures Of Divinities, Guardians And And Certain Architectural Figures Such As The Square Pillar With Cushion Capital Suggest Chalukyan Influence. The Depiction Of Mountains And Clouds And The Hairstyles Of Women Are Reminiscent Of Gupta Art.
Facing North The Main Cave Consists Of A Sanctum And Massive Hall Divided Into Five Bays. The Excellent Carved Panels On The Walls Of This Cave Include The Yogeshvara (Lord Of Yoga), Nataraja Shiva (Cosmic Dancer), Shivaparvati, Ardhanarishvara, Gangadhara, Andhakasuravadha, Ravananugraha Shiva,Kalyansunder Morti And Maheshmorti. The Ceiling Of The Main Cave Is Believed To Have Been Originally Painted With Different Colours. The Maheshmorti Of Shiva Is Depicted On The South Wall With Three Aspects Of Creation, Protection And Destruction Revealing A Masterpiece Of Chalukyan Gupta Art.
The Circular Pedestal In The Open Courtyard Marks The Seat Of Nandi (Bull) The Vehicle Of Shiva. The Side Cave Has A Small Shrine And A Pradakshinapatha ( Eight Mother Goddesses) Flanked By Kartikeya And Ganesha.
The Other Caves Are Plain And Lesser Embellished. The Other Antiquarian Remains Found In Elephanta Caves Are Stupa (3rd Century B.C) At The Top Of Hillock , Kshatrapa Coins Of The 4Th Century And Some Sculptures Including Mahishasurmardini, Four Headed Image, Brahma, Vishnu And Garuda.
This Site Was Declared By The Archaeological Survey Of India As A Monument Of National Vides No. 2704-A Dated 26-5-1909 And Thereafter Inscribed By The UNESCO As A World Heritage Site In the 1987.'
Source: Internet Search

Bhimbetka Rock Shelters located Inside The Ratapani Wildlife Sanctuary in Raisen District, Madhya Pradesh, India.

' World Heritage Site Special '



دھرتی اْتّے رب بنے بیٹھے آں اج۔
کل دی گل اے غاراں وچوں نکلے آں۔
(علی بابر)
ਧਰਤੀ ਉਤੇ ਰੱਬ ਬਣੇ ਬੈਠੇ ਆਂ ਅੱਜ।
ਕੱਲ੍ਹ ਦੀ ਗੱਲ ਏ ਗ਼ਾਰਾਂ ਵਿਚੋਂ ਨਿਕਲੇ ਆਂ।
(ਅਲੀ ਬਾਬਰ)

These Are some pictures of Commemorative Board and Bhimbetka Rock Shelters located Inside The Ratapani Wildlife Sanctuary in Raisen District, Madhya Pradesh, India. 100,000 years old Bhimbetka rock shelters are earliest traces and settlement of human life on the Indian Sub-Continent. Bhimbetka Rocks Have paintings drawn by The early Men. Some of the Stone Age rock paintings found among the Bhimbetka rock shelters are approximately 30,000 years old. Theses caves also deliver early evidence of dance.
 Bhimbetka was brought to the notice of the academic world by V.S. Wakankar (Vikram University Ujjaini) in The year 1957-58. He was conferred Padamshree by Govt. Of India for his discovery and research.

Due to its integral entity the painted rock shelters at Bhimbetka were inscribed on UNESCO 's World Heritage List in 2003.


It is written on The Commemorative Board of Bhimbetka:


' Bhimbetka is being a habitation of Man from early time. The excavations carried out at Bhimbetka have yielded evidence of continuous human occupation from lower Palaeolithic till Medieval times. In The span of time, there were numerous changes  took place in the social and cultural life of human being. The cultural remains such as stone tools, pottery, burials and significantly rock paintings depict the development in human life. Of these rock art is The best source to know about the contemporary society from that time Mesolithic to Medieval period. In general, the subject matter of the paintings are human and animal figures. Composite figures such as hunting scenes and cultural scenes that include dancers and musicians, daily life and many more, painted with mineral colours mainly ocher and white. The untouched natural settings of Bhimbetka, water bodies and landscape add the scenic beauty and splendor of the area.


Due to its integral entity the painted rock shelters at Bhimbetka were inscribed on UNESCO 's World Heritage List in 2003. Two of criterion for selection were:
III- Bhimbetka reflects a long interaction between people and landscape as demonstrated in quantity and quality of its rock art.
V- Bhimbetka is closely associated with a hunting and gathering economy as demonstrated in The rock art and in the relice of this tradition in The local Adivasi village on the periphery of this site.
Here you will see.....

You will see 15 rock shelters occupied by the early man and the life depicted in The paintings. The habitation deposit emerge the cultural sequence from lower Palaeolithic to Mesolithic, you will  find in the trenches of shelter 1 and 2. Rock shelter 3 has some couples made on The huge rock on the Western end, considered by some scholars as the man's earliest manifestation of creativity, probably associated with one lakh years before. An elaborately painted shelter 4 known as zoo rock, comprises 252 animals of 16 different species. From here walking towards North one can enjoy the watershed of Betwa River and natural ambience. Noticing many painted rocks shelters, you will reach at the rock shelter for 115. Here an amazing scene of a giant mythical animal chasing a human, painted with other colours, can be seen on the upper surface of The rock shelter. You may experience here natural geological formations, various shaped rocks and other painted rock shelters with their natural environment including flora and fauna. Watching all these you will walk 1400 meters.
Bhimbetka is a  group of rock shelters part of craggy sandstone formation in The Vindhya range. It rising over 100 meters above the Deccan trips amidst the Ratapani wild life sanctuary. The area is rich in heritage. There Are over 700 Rock shelters in This region. Of these more than 400 rock shelters are distributed over The five hills in The core area. These hills are:
I- Bineka
II- Bhonrawali
II- Bhimbetka
IV- Lakhs Juar (East)
V- Lakhs Juar (West) another group of rock shelters VI located in the Buffer zone known as Muni  Baba Ki Pahari Bhimbetka (Group III) consists 243 rock shelters in which 133 have rock paintings.
'Discovery of Bhimbetka'
Bhimbetka was brought to the notice of the academic world by V.S. Wakankar (Vikram University Ujjaini) in The year 1957-58. He was conferred Padamshree by Govt. Of India for his discovery and research.
This land discovery led to further research in the area of rock art. Subsequently, different academic scholars and institutions discovered many more sites and which threw light on The dynamics of shelter life by excavations and analysis.'



Pictures Gifted by Inderjeet Singh Ji