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Bhimbetka: Rock art and paintings by primeval man (Aadi Manav)

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  By Shashi Chiplonkar We are amazed and thrilled when we see the rock art and paintings at Bhimbetka exhibiting the earliest traces of human life in Indian subcontinent and evidence of stone age. Bhimbetka rock shelters are an archaeological site at the southern edge of the Vindhya Mountain ranges in the Raisen District of Madhya Pradesh, India. The site contains the world's oldest stone walls and floors.      The word Bhimbetka comes from Bhim baithka meaning "sitting place of Bhima". It is believed that “Bhim”, the second brother of five Pandavas of Mahabharat, used to rest here.  Going through the forest of rock shelters    Turtle rock formation        Entrance to Rock shelters   Ancient Rock Paintings by Aadi Manav (earliest human being)           This Rock shelter complex was first discovered by Dr V. S. Wakankar, in 1957. He named these rock formations as “Zoo Rock”. Zoo Rock includes 453 pai...
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KHAJURAHO TEMPLES: Marvels of ancient architecture, art, and philosophy

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  Shashi Chiplonkar Khajuraho temples are thousands of years' old and are more famous for the erotic sculptures attracting tourist from all over the world. However out of all the sculptures on these temples, not more than 10% depict eroticism. Furthermore, these sculptures are considered as symbolizing fertility as a part of human life and also interpreted as a union of Shiva and Shakti. Another meaning behind the erotic sculptures appears to be of a tantric cult that are actually metaphors, a form of language, for educating people about the philosophical essence of human life. Many books, articles and videos have described the art and architecture of Khajuraho temples. In this blog, I am elucidating my experience about the Khajuraho temple complex when I visited in November, 2022. Our trip was organized by Samyana Tours ( SAMYANA TOURS LLP in Pune, India (thesamyana.in) ) and expert Indologists Mr Anand Kanitkar and Ms Vidya Gadre were with us to explain the art, history and philo...
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