MADHYA PRADESH : ROCK ART AND TRIBAL ART BY MEENAKSHI DUBEY-PATHAK & JEAN CLOTTES [HARDCOVER]

Among the numerous cultural manifestations in India, rock art is one of the most magnificent expression of the creativity of our ancestors. Indian rock art is mostly known from the Bhimbetka painted shelters in Madhya Pradesh which were designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2003. Madhya Pradesh also is the Indian State with most rock art sites, probably over two thousand. The present volume aims to make the general public aware of these cultural riches.
The cultural traditions of the inhabitants of the villages adjacent to the sites bear a strong resemblance to those represented in the rock paintings. On visiting the sites, one becomes aware of the ongoing ceremonial practices being performed by the tribal villagers, for whom the age-old rock art is still alive. The painted shelters are thus places of power and divinity from where they expect to get their wishes fulfilled. The present work attempts to document these traditional beliefs about the sites and the art, including different forms of tribal art, before they are lost forever.
Since the Mesolithic and perhaps before, rock shelters have thus been perceived as numinous places where one could get in touch with supernatural powers – whatever names and attributes they were given – in order to further one’s wishes. The authors’ own wish would be that the values of rock art sites be recognised and more efforts be made to manage and protect them. May this book contribute to it!

Dr Meenakshi Dubey-Pathak has specialized in the field of Indian Rock Art. During her many years of fieldwork she discovered dozens of new painted sites, mostly in Madhya Pradesh (particularly in the Pachmarhi area about which she did her PhD), but also in Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Ladakh.
Dr Jean Clottes is currently the editor of the International Newsletter on Rock Art (INORA). He is also an international expert for rock art with ICOMOS and UNESCO.