Culture, History, Places

Bhimbetka Rock Shelters, Madhya Pradesh

The Bhimbetka Rock Shelters in Madhya Pradesh are among the 10 oldest prehistoric cave painting sites in the world. Some of these paintings are at least 30,000 years old! What did our early human ancestors think and dream of?

Image attributions

Image attributions:

1.View of valley between Malwa and Mandu plateaus

Varun Shiv Kapur from New Delhi, India, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:View_of_valley_between_Malwa_and_Mandu_plateaus.jpg

2.Cuneiform Writing

Uploaded by Jan van der Crabben, published on 26 April 2012.

https://www.worldhistory.org/image/93/cuneiform-writing/

3.EntradaMaltravieso

Mario modesto, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:EntradaMaltravieso.JPG

4.Homo sapiens neanderthalensis-Jäger

Neanderthal-Museum, Mettmann, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Homo_sapiens_neanderthalensis-J%C3%A4ger.jpg

5.Panjurli- The Wild Boar.. Worship of Nature God

Nagaraj Bhat Bantwal, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Panjurli-_The_Wild_Boar.._Worship_of_Nature_God.jpg

6.Korku Dance Madya pradesh

Ramesh Lalwani, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Korku_Dance_Madya_pradesh.jpg

7.3D Animated Map – Google Earth Studio

Tags: Bhimbetka, Cave paintings, Human evolution, Prehistoric sites, Stone Age

Why the Original Sanchi Stupa Had No Images of Buddha | Sanchi

Did you know the first human images of the Buddha appeared nearly 500 years after his death? Before that, artists used symbols to represent him. You can see many such symbols at the Sanchi Stupa.

History, People, Places, Religions

The Strange Partnership that saved Bateshwar | Madhya Pradesh

In the ravines of Chambal in Madhya Pradesh, lies Bateshwar, a complex of 200 ancient temples. For centuries they lay in ruins, swallowed by forest. Until about 20 years ago, when, K.K. Muhammed, an archaeologist with the Archaeological Survey of India, teamed up with Nirbhay Singh Gujjar, one of Chambal’s most feared dacoits, to bring the heritage site back to life. This is the story of an unusual partnership that saved Bateshwar.

History, Places

Belum Caves | Nandyal, Andhra Pradesh

The Belum Caves in Andhra Pradesh are just over 3 kms long, but the history they hold is billions of years old. Here’s a story of how the Indian subcontinent formed millions of years ago from supercontinents like Rodinia and Gondwana.

History, People, Places

The Story of Bruce Foote: The British Scientist Who Discovered Madrasian Culture

Why is Robert Bruce Foote, an Englishman, considered to be the ‘father of Indian prehistory’? What is the significance of ‘Madrasian Culture’? Read on for the fascinating story of a man who made Madras an unforgettable name in anthropology.

Culture, History, Places

Of Grave Matters and Buried Treasures

According to archaeologists, grave goods are practically buried treasures that can offer valuable information about life in ancient civilisations, strange as it may seem. This story dives deep into the world of grave goods and the fascinating secrets that have been unearthed from various burial sites in India.

History, People, Places

Charles Masson: The Man Who Discovered Harappa

Meet Charles Masson, a soldier turned archaeologist and numismatist. During his lifetime, he was largely unacknowledged for the staggering amount of excavation work he carried out in Afghanistan and parts of modern-day Pakistan, which led to the discovery of entire new chapters in history. He was also the first European to discover the ruins of Harappa, one of the most important the Indus Valley Civilisation sites. This is his story.

Culture, History, Places

The Oldest Settlements in South India: The Keeladi Excavations

How old are the oldest settlements in south India? This video explores the story of the recent excavations at Keeladi, which revealed the existence of a sophisticated Tamil civilisation dating back at least to the 6th century BCE. But did you know that archaeological digs carried out over a 100 years earlier at sites like Adichanallur and Pallavaram had already hinted at human habitation sites in Tamil Nadu dating back thousands of years? How have these path-breaking excavations changed our understanding of ancient south Indian history?

History, Places, Religions

Ancient stone caskets that stored Buddha’s relics | Sanchi Stupa, India

Buddha died around 483 BCE. His remains were stored in 8 stone caskets. Emperor Ashoka had an idea – a vision to spread Buddhism through these relics. How did he do it? This story explores the journey of Buddha’s cremated remains from nearly 2500 years ago to locations that have become important Buddhist pilgrimage sites, one of which is the Sanchi Stupa.