Last Updated on: 13th November 2025, 09:47 am
Located about 45 km southeast of Bhopal, the rock shelters of Bhimbetka are home to some of the world’s oldest rock art, with some dating as far back as 100,000 years!
Rediscovered in the 1950s by Dr. Vishnu Shridhar Wakankar, over 750 ancient rock shelters were found in the area, and over 500 of them feature paintings. Today, however, visitors to this UNESCO World Heritage site follow a predetermined path that takes them to a select fifteen rock shelters.
The following guide provides an overview of each of the fifteen caves in addition to information on how to reach the site from the city of Bhopal, the Madhya Pradesh state capital. And for more information on reaching Bhopal and where to stay, be sure to check the end of the article.
Humans likely settled at Bhimbetka and remained there for so long due to the variety of edible plants and abundance of wild animals for hunting. As mentioned, the oldest paintings date back to over 100,000 years ago, while the most ‘recent’ are from around the 2nd century BC.
The rock art mostly depicts hunting, communal dances, war, and scenes from daily life. The scenes were painted on bare rock that was never plastered over, while it’s not entirely clear what the ancient residents would’ve used as a brush.
As for the site’s name, it refers to Bhima, the second-eldest Pandava brother of the Mahabharata epic. According to local legend, he spent time here during his exile. (While the Mahabharata’s historicity is controversial, it’s generally estimated to have taken place sometime between 1000-3000 BC.)
Touring the Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka
At the time of writing, the Bhimbetka Rock Shelters are open daily from 7:00-18:00. The site costs Rs 150 for foreigners to enter, making this one of the cheapest UNESCO World Heritage sites to visit in India.
Located about 45 km southeast of Bhopal, you can either reach the site by public bus, Uber, or private tour.
Note that if you come by bus, you’ll have to walk 3 km uphill to reach the site from the main highway. Therefore, even those on a budget should consider taking an Uber at least one way.
That way, even if you decide to take the bus back, at least the trip to the highway will be downhill. There is indeed a bus stand right by the highway entrance, but since I didn’t use it, I can’t confirm which buses will stop for you or their frequency.
In my case, I originally hired an Uber driver one-way to the site (about Rs 700). Then via Google Translate, we negotiated a deal for him to wait for me, take me to Bhojeshwar Temple, and then finally back to Bhopal (Rs 1000).
Fortunately, I got really lucky with such a patient and honest driver. But if you’re uncomfortable with the uncertainty, you can also book a private tour in advance.
All in all, expect a full exploration of the caves to take you 1-1.5 hours
As mentioned, there are fifteen rock shelters at Bhimbetka which are accessible via a main path. But given the nature of the path, which features two loops in the middle, most visitors probably won’t be seeing all of the caves in order.
Nevertheless, we’ll be presenting the rock shelters in numerical order in the guide below.
Rock Shelter 1
Rock Shelter 1 is a 20 m-high shelter, and excavations have revealed habitation dating back to over 100,000 years ago, making this one of the oldest caves of the entire site.
This shelter contains a few drawings depicting humans hunting a bull and some elephants, but they date to the historical era (about the 6th century BC onward).
At Rock Shelter 1, you’ll also find modern mannequins representing the ancient cave dwellers – the only such display at the site.
Rock Shelter 2
Rock Shelter 2 is a 17-m high dwelling featuring various animal paintings. But they’re very faint and among the most difficult to make out at Bhimbetka.
Rock Shelter 3
Dubbed the ‘Auditorium,’ Rock Shelter 3 is easily one of Bhimbetka’s top highlights. The massive cave is 39 m long, 4 m wide and 17 m high. And it features drawings at no less than 17 places, but many of them are hard to make out.
Upon walking through the natural tunnel, you’ll find the clearest of the paintings which depicts bulls, buffaloes, antelopes, a tiger, and other animals painted in ochre.
Some of the rocks also feature small indentations which are clearly manmade, but their exact purpose is unclear.
Rock Shelter 3 is also home to a prehistoric tomb dating to the Mesolithic period, or roughly from 10,000-5000 BC. The dead here were often buried with funerary objects such as animal bones and minerals like hematite.
Rock Shelter 4
Rock Shelter 4 could be considered the other top highlight of the rock shelters of Bhimbetka. It’s nicknamed ‘Zoo Rock’ and it’s easy to see why, as it features a whopping 453 figures in total – a majority of them animals.
Most of them belong to the prehistoric period, though some from the historic period are also present. Interestingly, the lower portion features what appears to be a royal procession.
You could spend quite a bit of time here standing and staring at the rock art as you continuously notice new details.
Rock Shelter 5
Rock Shelter 5 is a relatively minor shelter featuring images of a goat, deer and a langur. The animals were painted in both white and ochre.
Rock Shelter 6
In contrast to animals, the focus of Rock Shelter 6 is humans, though you can still make out some faint animals if you look hard enough. The oldest paintings of animals were colored in red, while the more recent images of humans were painted in white.
Walking through a narrow opening, you’ll encounter another scene that looks similar to the first one.
Both scenes feature a series of multiple stick figures lined in a row, seemingly holding hands. Perhaps the art demonstrates an ancient traditional dance.
A hunter also seems to make an appearance, but a lot of the Bhimbetka paintings appear rather open to interpretation.
Rock Shelter 7
All of the figures at Rock Shelter 7 belong to the historical era, making it among the more ‘recent’ rock shelters of Bhimbetka. Here we can see warriors holding spears while riding horses on their way to a battle.
The main scene is simple but arguably one of the most impactful of the entire site. Not only can we clearly make out many of the details, but the artist took advantage of the dark-colored background of the rock for added contrast.
The View Point
As mentioned, most visitors aren’t going to be seeing all of the rock shelter of Bhimbetka in numerical order. But at some point during your explorations, be sure to check out the View Point located roughly between shelters 5 and 8.
Given the frequent depictions of war at the shelters, this site, which provides a clear view of the surrounding plains, surely came in handy for defense.
Rock Shelter 8
Rock Shelter 8 is one of the most interesting yet confusing of the Bhimbetka rock shelters. While signs point out each shelter to visitors, it’s not entirely clear where this one ends and begins. In any case, it seems to comprise of a few different sections.
During my first walk over, I was only able to observe faint white figures on the ceiling of a natural cave opening. But it was only during my return journey that I walked past Rock Shelter 8 again and looked up at it from a different angle, noticing an entirely different set of paintings.
These ones, painted in ochre, are much more clear and they depict a group of heavily armed soldiers riding horses. Archaeologists believe them to have been painted during the historical period.
Rock Shelter 9
The paintings of Rock Shelter 9 are rather unique. Unlike most of the other rock shelters of Bhimbetka, here you’ll see paintings done in green and yellow.
While it’s not clear what all the ovals represent, one can see beautiful depictions of both a horse and an elephant.
Rock Shelter 10
One of the least remarkable shelters of the bunch, Rock Shelter 10 features a faded depiction of what appears to be a tree. Some hunters and dancers also make appearances, but they’re also very faint.
Rock Shelter 11
At Rock Shelter 11, the natural rock formations are a lot more interesting than the paintings, which largely just comprise of faded horses and soldiers.
Rock Shelter 12
Rock Shelter 12 is home to a beautiful array of animals painted in both red and orange. A water buffalo with large horns makes an appearance, and so do nilgais, a large type of Asian antelope.
Notice how the artist took the natural shape of the rock into account when arranging the scene.
Rock Shelter 13
The final three shelters all feature depictions of boars. And interestingly, most of the paintings in this section of the site were done very high up. But how?
Archaeologists suspect that the painters may have done so from tree branches, or perhaps from the tops of ancient structures that have since collapsed.
Rock Shelter 14
Rock Shelter 14 features additional boars painted several meters off the ground. The on-site signage mentions a hunting scene which is either in a different area or is so faded that it can barely be made out.
Rock Shelter 15
Rock Shelter 15 is a large mushroom-shaped rock that’s also known as ‘Boar Rock.’
A boar-like figure is painted nearly 10 meters off the ground, though it appears more like a mythical creature. It also appears like a man is running away from it.
Various other animals make appearances, such as a rhino, water buffalo, cow and langur.
Additional Info
Though located right in the heart of the country, Bhopal can be a bit challenging to reach from other major cities in India. I took a train from Aurangabad and the journey lasted about 14 hours. You can also take a direct train from Delhi, with the fastest train taking about 7 hours.
Coming from within Madhya Pradesh, you can reach Bhopal from Indore in about 4-5 hours.
Despite the hassle, Bhopal is indeed worth visiting to see the Bhimbetka Rock Shelters and Sanchi Stupa. And of course, you can also check out the Madhya Pradesh Tribal Museum and other attractions in the city center.
If you’re doing a long trip through India, it’s best to create an account on the official Indian Railways (IRCTC) website. But that’s much easier said than done!
If you’re just doing a shorter trip, it’s best to book train tickets through 12GoAsia. You’ll pay a significantly higher fee, but it’s a much smoother experience.
The above link is an affiliate link, but I did use 12GoAsia a few times before I got my IRCTC account set up and I had no issues.
Note that when traveling even a little bit off the tourist trail in India, you can’t just stay at any hotel you like. Only certain hotels will accept foreigners, and sites like Booking will not specify this!
Despite Bhopal being a state capital with nearly 3 million inhabitants, it hardly gets any foreign visitors, and you’ll have to double-check with your hotel that you’ll be allowed. (Or check is to see if people with foreign names and flags have left reviews.)
Furthermore, non-touristy cities tend to be more expensive than touristy ones. With all that considered, I ended up staying at the Super Collection O MP Nagar, which does indeed accept foreigners.
For the equivalent of about $18 per night, I had a private room with my own bathroom and decent Wifi. The staff were quite friendly, even if only one of them spoke English. Unfortunately, the hotel often reeked of cigarette smoke and cleanliness could’ve been better.
Super Collection O MP Nagar is in a rather strange area surrounded by lots of auto parts shops. With that said, there were several other hotels nearby and a plethora of restaurants to choose from.
Just across the street is the restaurant Naveen’s Bapu Ki Kutia, which serves one of the most delicious thalis I’ve ever had in India!
If budget is not such a concern, it would probably be most convenient to stay somewhere near Upper Lake. Lago Villa seems like a good option that accepts foreigners.