Hidden rock art of Chanderi region

I was standing on a shelf of a low cliff, overlooking the Urr River, sometimes called the Urvashi. The nearest village was Nanoun – pronounced Nanoon – and the closest town was Chanderi, in Madhya Pradesh. The landscape around was gentle, with a few rocky hills and vegetation that became thicker close to the river. Thousands of years ago, on this same rocky overhang, another human being had sought refuge – perhaps from incessant and torrential rain – and left behind his mark on its walls.

Drawn on the walls of the ledge are vivid depictions of life in that prehistoric era. Man was then a hunter-gatherer, and his worldview – perhaps then and now – was limited by his needs. This is reflected in the rock art here. Drawn on the rock are deer, bulls, elephants and numerous other creatures, including one with stripes on its back and a longish neck – possibly a zebra or maybe even a giraffe. There are beehives shown on trees. There are also human figures – hunting, dancing and appearing to drag something behind them, perhaps a dead animal.

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While red ochre is predominant as the colour used, shades such as light red, dark orange and brown are also seen. While some figures are shown only as stick lines, others are visible with a full body. Imagine a prehistoric figure taking shelter here from the rain and beginning to draw. And this happened repeatedly for centuries, with the rock art reflecting the gradual evolution of the human’s ability to think and depict those thoughts coherently.

When I dropped down from the ledge to the riverbank, what had seemed like a static log of wood began to move slowly. The ‘log’ was an alligator. Unlike my ancestors thousands of years past, I had nothing to defend myself from it and made a rapid exit.

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To the north is Mamoun – spoken of as Mamoon. The village lies at the base of a hill, which has two painted rock shelters. Here again, there are numerous hunting and food gathering scenes, made using red haematite and, as a result, more vivid. Beyond the hunting scenes are some depictions of fighting, with human figures atop horses ready for a skirmish. There are also numerous diagrams, resembling yantras of the Hindu faith. The meaning of these is left open for guessing. But what is fascinating to see is that the human brain has developed to an extent that man is expressing himself through these diagrams, in a real embodiment of evolution theories.

One of the Mamoun rock shelters also has a contemporary shrine, with a sculpted idol built into the rock shelter itself. This poses a threat to the paintings, which may be given a layer of sindoor and converted into part of the shrine. Interestingly, the village of Mamoun is filled with fragments of several temples dated to the 10th – 11th century period. But that is a story for another day.

Further away and harder to access is the site of Aam Kho. There is no village near this site, which is 26 km from Chanderi town. But for the wholehearted support and accurate knowledge of two local men from the tribal community, this rock art site would have been impossible to locate. At the outset, one comes across a relatively new temple, though it has an ancient idol of Vishnu in its precincts – enough encouragement for an explorer to walk on. And it’s a long walk! For almost a kilometre, one walks along a grassy path with the forest on both sides. After a while, the sound of water flowing in force is heard.

A river comes up next, and an explorer has to find a spot narrow enough, with a set of stones acting as a natural bridge, to cross it. Next up, one has to climb a rocky hill, leveraging some small ledges. And then the rock art comes into view. Clearly visible is a herd of bulls, depicted as walking one behind the other as if in single file. On other parts of the rock shelter are some fading paintings of other animals. The tribal people who brought me here stated that there were several more sites hidden away in the hills around.

These are but three of innumerable rock art sites around the historic town of Chanderi, which is known more for its saree weaving tradition. In fact, there are over a dozen rock art sites that have been mapped by scholars here. The prominent places are Belan (22 kms from Chanderi), Bharki – also on the Urr River (29 kms from Chanderi) and Ramnagar (9 kms from Chanderi). Even the temple site of Thubon ji has rock shelters in the vicinity. Many of the sites are not just prehistoric but from historic times too.

Near many of these rock art sites were found quantities of early and middle Stone Age tools. There are tools of flake and microliths. Some explorers also mention finding hand axes and choppers made of coarse-grained quartzite. The area is so rich with possibilities that it may contain a continuum of human shifts from being a hunter-gatherer to an agriculturist to a village builder.

In February 2024, ‘Rock art sites of the Chambal Valley’ made it to the tentative list for UNESCO World Heritage status. This listing spreads across nine clusters of sites straddling both Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. One day, these sites may receive world heritage status. However, their story would be incomplete until the larger narrative around Chanderi would also be studied, maybe as an extension of the Chambal belt. Until then, isolated explorers will continue to map the wonders around Chanderi.

The author is a heritage explorer by inclination with a penchant for seeking obscure sites. A brand consultant by profession, he tweets @HiddenHeritage. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost’s views.