Historic art forms found in caves
CHANDAN SEN
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Some cave paintings found in Bundi have been dated to the Solutrian Meglelian period.
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Photo: Chandan Sen
Heritage: Rock painting in Gararda.
In Bundi you can see pre-historic art in two forms — cave paintings and rock shelters. The cave paintings date back from 30,000 to 20,000 years (Solutrian Meglelian age) and 20000 to 10000 years (Aurgnahan Paragarhon age). There are similar caves at Altamira, Frant de game and Lasko and Troyfares. In India, almost all pre-historic paintings are seen in rock shelters.
In the rural areas
Rock paintings have been found near the river /rivulet on rocks and caves in the district . The colours for these paintings were derived from powdered rocks or coloured earth found in and around these places. The prominent colours used were ochre, tan, dark red , white and yellow and purple. The paintings of the mesolithic period show animals — bison, tiger, dogs and antelopes, armies, hunting scenes, lakes, and scenes from daily life, dancing, swords, flags, herd of deer and so on.
The style of the painting suggests it could be 20,000 to 30,000 years old. The Naldah, Gararda, Golpur rock painting sites are undoubtedly the best sites discovered so far. The collection includes microlithic tools, fishing tools from the copper age, stone age arrow heads and many small interesting items from the historic period.
Historic rock painting sites have been discovered in the rural areas of Bundi. Unfortunately in some sites stone mining has been going on destroying many paintings. Other locations are also under threat because of lack of identification and protection.
Gararda is bigger in size and has around three dozen caves housing the rock paintings. The prominent theme in these paintings are the bird rider and geometric designs.
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