Allegory of caves: Heritage etched on rock paintings
3 min readManendragarh: The Manendragarh-Chirmiri-Bharatpur district, historically recognised as Dandakaranya and Dakshin Kaushal, holds significant ar-chaeological and touristic va-lue despite its remote setting amongst forests, mountains, and rivers.
According to district no-dal officer for archaeology and tourism, Dr Vinod Pan-dey, the Bharatpur develop-ment block contains numero-us rock paintings in Tiloli, Ara, Bhawarkhoh (Koh-baur), Lawahori (Ghodband-hapaat), and Sonhari (Nawa diha). These artworks share characteristics with the Bhimbetka caves of Madhya Pradesh, dating from Upper Palaeolithic to Mesolithic pe-riods.
Tiloli is situated 130 km from district headquarters, accessible via Kathoutia Ke
lhari-Baharasi-Kuwarpur.
The Garhadai (Garhadevi) temple sits atop a hill, now equipped with steps by the fo-rest department. The natural rocks display red-coloured paintings depicting deer, lo tus flowers, horses, and in-scriptions.
Ara’s rock paintings are located 5 km before Tiloli, ac-cessible from Manendragarh
The painted rock shelters, located in the forests, feature deer, human figures, and geometric designs
via Kathoutia Kelhari-Ku-warpur. The hillside, 500 met res from Ara village, features paintings of humans, deer, goats, and horses.
Bhawarkhoh (Kohbaur) is reached via Kelhari-Janak-pur from Manendragarh. In the Sargujia dialect, “Bha war” denotes bee and “Khoh” means cave. The Kohbaur rock shelter, situated near
Murelgarh hill, displays pa-intings of oxen, deer, swasti kas, humans, birds, geomet ric patterns, and kite-like fi-gures. Biharpur (Nawadiha) contains rock paintings en route to Jatashankar, depictes ting various animals, birds, and human figures in Nawa-diha village’s forests.
Lawahori is accessible from Janakpur via Kotadol.
These artworks share characteristics with the Bhimbetka caves of MP.
These archaeological sites currently lack proper organisation and preservation.
The ancient artwork’s colours are fading, necessitating immediate conservation efforts to protect them
and Ghaghra village. The pa-inted rock shelters, located 2 km into the forest, feature de-er, human figures, and geo-metric designs.
These archaeological si-currently lack proper or ganisation and preservation. The ancient artwork’s colo-urs are fading, necessitating immediate conservation ef-forts to protect them.
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The Garhadai (Garhadevi) temple sits atop a hill, now equipped with steps by the fo-rest department. The natural rocks display red-coloured paintings depicting deer, lo tus flowers, horses, and in-scriptions.
Ara’s rock paintings are located 5 km before Tiloli, ac-cessible from Manendragarh
The painted rock shelters, located in the forests, feature deer, human figures, and geometric designs
via Kathoutia Kelhari-Ku-warpur. The hillside, 500 res from Ara village, features paintings of humans, deer, goats, and horses.
Bhawarkhoh (Kohbaur) is reached via Kelhari-Janak-pur from Manendragarh. In the Sargujia dialect, “Bha war” denotes bee and “Khoh” means cave. The Kohbaur rock shelter, situated near
Murelgarh hill, displays pa-met-intings of oxen, deer, swasti kas, humans, birds, geomet-ric patterns, and kite-like fi-gures. Biharpur (Nawadiha) contains rock paintings en route to Jatashankar, depic-ting various animals, birds, and human figures in Nawa-diha village’s forests.
Lawahori is accessible from Janakpur via Kotadol
These artworks share characteristics with the Bhimbetka caves of MP. These archaeological sites currently lack proper organisation and preservation. The ancient artwork’s colours are fading, necessitating immediate conservation efforts to
protect them
and Ghaghra village. The pa-inted rock shelters, located 2 km into the forest, feature de-er, human figures, and geo-metric designs.
These archaeological si-tes currently lack proper or ganisation and preservation. The ancient artwork’s colo-urs are fading, necessitating immediate conservation ef-forts to protect them.