An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c18.s1.2

v1.c18.s1.2

The majority of these are situated in the hilly regions of c. India, with the main concentration in the w. Vindhyas. Here within a radius of 50 km of the city of Bhopal there are several hundred painted rock-shelters scattered around the sources of the Betwa and Kali Sindh rivers. The main centres of painted shelters in this area are BHIMBETKA, Jaora, Dharampuri, Shyamala hill, KHARWAI, RAISEN and ADAMGARH. Of these BHIMBETKA, situated 45 km s. of Bhopal, is the largest repository of rock art in the country. Here there are well over 600 caves scattered on seven hills within a radius of 10 km. The next important site in this area is Jaora, some 50 km n.-w. of Bhimbetka. It has more than 100 painted shelters. Other major concentrations of painted shelters in Dt Raisen are Putli Karar, Kharwai and Ramchhajja. Altogether in that Dt there are 11 sites with over 1000 painted shelters. ADAMGARH near Hoshangabad discovered as far back as 1922 is another famous site with two dozen shelters.