Kaimur Hills

INTRODUCTION

The antiques lying on the Kaimur hills in Bihar provide a unique opportunity to study our indigenous culture and to analyze the current socio-economic conditions of ancient Magadh and the reasons for its downfall.

The discovery of rock paintings depicting pre-historical lifestyle have not only added a new dimension to Indian history but have also clearly led to the conclusion that indigenous culture all over the world is uniform. The rock paintings discovered in Bihar are identical to the ones found in central and southern India. And the Indian rock paintings and stone tolls have close resemblances with those found in Europe and Africa. The rock paintings of Spain's Alta Mira and France's Lascaux are almost identical to those found in Bihar.

TRADITION OF ROCK PAINTING

But the tradition of painting on rocks did not last long in European countries whereas in India they became an integral part of life. The overlapping or super imposition effects noticed in the rock paintings of Bihar clearly substantiate that these paintings were done over periods.

Like any other traditional art, the rock paintings too happen to be the creations of our female ancestors. After realizing the importance of settled life, human beings settled themselves in caves close to flora and fauna. While the male adults stayed away hunting for food, the females decorated their caves with painting mostly depicting the hunting scenes.

NEW DISCOVERIES

The discovery of certain rock painting sites at Kaimur in Bhabhua district in Bihar by its then District Magistrate, Rajesh Bhushan, had hit the newspaper headlines some five-six years ago.

In the video, A Voyage to Discovery, Rajesh Bhushan narrates the history of the rock paintings. His discovery involves an 11 km walk through dense forests, crossing the local Sunra River at four points. His discoveries include a Chakra (wheel) of prehistoric age at Goria Pahari, the remains of an ancient fort in Garevat, and a stone inscription nearby that is yet to be deciphered.

At Karar Pahari in Adhoura Block, he discovered numerous caves and shelters painted with minerals and at Telhar Kund, he found paintings depicting fishing with bow and arrow, symbols of religious significance and animals of different shapes.

THE PAINTINGS

Most of these paintings, however, initially appeared dull, probably because of the thick layer of dust that had gathered on them.

These paintings belong to the Mesolithic period, which ranges in Bihar from 5000 BC to 2500 BC. Those paintings had a long tradition and extended upto the British period. The tradition of drawing sketches on the rocks began some 30,000 years ago.

Prehistoric human beings drew sketches of nature around them on the rocks and caves where they resided with the help of their improvised tools. This type of paintings have been discovered all over the world, including Africa, America, Europe, Central Asia, former Soviet Union and Australia.

In India, they have been found in several districts of Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh and Bihar. So far 2,000 such rock shelters and several hundred prehistoric paintings have been discovered in our country. They depict the cultural specialties of the inhabitants of the particular region through the ages and they have been classified accordingly.

The paintings during the Mesolithic period were done with minerals after sharpening them or with the help of a brush or by using the sharp edge of a tree branch. Food store scenes too appear in a few paintings. The oldest paintings are in green and white and are comparatively bigger.

SITES

In Bihar, the rock paintings were first discovered by Dr. Rakesh Tiwari in Garhwa district in 1971. More paintings have been found after that in Hazaribagh, Nawada, Koderma, Giridih, Jamui, Bhavanathpur, and Sati Pahari. The paintings at Sati Pahari have been named Mado and Kohabar.

ROCK SHELTERS

Rock shelter-I is almost at the top of the Kaimur hill. It is a large cave and about 200 persons can sit in it at a time. A stream of water flows inside the cave round the year. Mesolithic tools including a scrapper have been fished out of this stream. It is widely perceived that this region was inhabited by human beings during the Mesolithic period.

Rock shelter-II which is located a bit away, is a natural cave of small size. A stream of water flows close to it. Mesolithic stone tools have been discovered from this stream of water as well.

Paintings depicting the ancient lifestyle are spread over this rock shelter over an area of 25.5 m x 3 m. Human figures have been shown with both hands raised. These types of human figures also appear in the paintings discovered in Madhya Pradesh. However, an Austrian archaeologist, Numamair, described these paintings as more appealing than those found in rest of the country.

Geometric designs have been given more prominence in the paintings drawn in later ages. Squares abundantly appear, while circles and triangle are comparatively less. Hunting scenes and animals dominate these paintings.

At one place, human figures appear along the row of trees. A male has been shown carrying a prey on his shoulder. Figures of buffalo, tiger, deer, stag, various kinds of birds, trees plants, sun, moon, lotus, flowers and vegetables of different kinds appear in these paintings. In some cases, slanting lines bifurcate the squares. Similar figures also appear in the rock paintings found in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

Feathered insects appear in the paintings found at Rock Shelter-III in Sati Pahari. Pictures of insects with equal feathers are rare. These pictures also depict metamorphosed anthropomorphous and zoomorphous. Fishing scenes too appear in these paintings.

OTHER SITES

Several rock-painting sites have also been identified in Saraiya. Rattam, Raum, Thethagi, and Satapahari localities in Tandwa block of Hazaribagh district have been identified. Most of these paintings depict animals in their natural form. The Mesolithic paintings do not have much geometric designs but they appear abundantly in the later paintings.

Even hornet's nests and whirlpools have been accurately portrayed in the rock paintings of Bihar. More than one colour has been used in some of the pictures. These paintings have close resemblance with the ones found in Katni district in Madhya Pradesh. Whirlpools also appear in the rock paintings found in other states.

Extensive survey and operations work may lead to many new discoveries and help us understand the lifestyle of our ancestors. They might even give a new turn to our history.

HOW TO REACH

Most of the places in this region are at a distance of around 200-300 km from Patna, the capital of the state of Bihar. Patna is connected by road, rail, and air networks to the other important cities in India.