SSC
The Bhimbetka rock shelters are located in:
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Answer: Option A — Madhya Pradesh
Detailed Solution
The Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka are located in the Raisen district of Madhya Pradesh, about 45 km south of Bhopal, in the foothills of the Vindhya Range.
About Bhimbetka:
- It contains more than 700 rock shelters, about 400 of which have paintings.
- The paintings date from the Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic periods to historical times, with some estimated to be about 10,000 years old or older.
- It shows the earliest traces of human life in India and evidence of the Stone Age.
- The paintings are mostly in red and white, with occasional green and yellow, made from natural colours such as minerals, plant juices and animal fat.
- They depict hunting, dancing, music, horse and elephant riders, animal fights, honey collection, body decoration and household scenes.
- Animals shown include bison, tigers, lions, wild boar, elephants, deer, rhinoceros and dogs.
- Some petroglyphs (rock carvings) at Bhimbetka, such as the cupules in the "Auditorium Cave", are believed to be among the oldest known in the world.
Discovery and recognition:
It was discovered in 1957 by the archaeologist Dr. Vishnu Shridhar Wakankar, who noticed the rock formations while travelling by train.
It was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2003.
The name "Bhimbetka" is believed to come from "Bhimbaithka", meaning "the sitting place of Bhima", the Pandava hero of the Mahabharata.
It lies within the Ratapani Wildlife Sanctuary (declared a tiger reserve in 2024).
Other prehistoric rock art sites in India:
- Jogimara Caves: Chhattisgarh.
- Lakhudiyar: Uttarakhand.
- Kupgallu: Karnataka.
- Edakkal Caves: Wayanad, Kerala.
Other UNESCO sites in Madhya Pradesh:
- Khajuraho Group of Monuments (1986).
- Buddhist Monuments at Sanchi (1989).
Why not the other options?
- ✗Maharashtra has the Ajanta and Ellora Caves.
- ✗Chhattisgarh has the Jogimara Caves.
- ✗Karnataka has the Kupgallu rock art.
Quick tip
Remember: Bhimbetka = Raisen, Madhya Pradesh (prehistoric rock paintings; discovered by V. S. Wakankar, 1957; UNESCO 2003); other MP UNESCO sites = Khajuraho and Sanchi.
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Monuments & Religious Places — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Monuments & Religious Places, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers India's important monuments, temples, mosques, churches, gurudwaras and pilgrimage sites, who built them and when, their architectural styles, and India's UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Questions ask who built a monument, where it is located, or which dynasty or style it belongs to. For example, the Qutub Minar was begun by Qutbuddin Aibak, and the Sun Temple at Konark was built by the Eastern Ganga king Narasimhadeva I. Revise the UNESCO World Heritage Sites as a list, noting the most recent additions. Practise the monuments and religious places questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.