Hyderabad: The study of rock art became popular in India after the discovery of the prehistoric Bhimbetka group of 700 rock shelters including 400 paintings, 45 kms from Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh, said Mr S.S. Rangacharulu, a retired senior official of Telangana state archaeology and museums department.
Bhimbetka got the Unesco world heritage tag thanks to the late archaeologist Dr V.S. Wakankar in 1957. He established the Wakankar Indological Cultural Research Trust in Ujjain
In Telangana Dr V.V. Krishna Sastry had reported a few rock paintings and sites at Regonda and Budigepalli in Karimnagar, Kokapet near Hyderabad and Mudumala in Mahbubnagar district.
“Rock art sites are classic examples to suggest the extent to which the prehistoric man had developed the aesthetic urge in him in spite of his pre-occupation in the fight against nature,” Mr Rangacharulu said.
Among the rock art sites in Telangana state, Pandavula Gutta in Jayashankar-Bhupalpally district is rich in terms of number of paintings, rock shelters and its occupation from the Mesolithic age, 10,000 to 5,000 years ago, to the medieval times.
