Which of the following sites contains prehistoric paintings ranging from the Mesolithic to the historic period?

Question

Which of the following sites contains prehistoric paintings ranging from the Mesolithic to the historic period?

1. A. Hampi
2. B. Nalanda
3. C. Pattadakal
4. D. Bhimbetka (Correct answer)

Correct Answer

Option D — Bhimbetka

Detailed Solution & Explanation

The correct answer is Bhimbetka.

Key Points

• The Bhimbetka rock shelters in the Raisen district of Madhya Pradesh contain rock paintings spanning from the Mesolithic period through to the historic era — a continuity of occupation running to roughly 100,000 years.
• More than 700 shelters have been identified, of which around 400 carry paintings in red and white ochre depicting hunting, dancing, animals and later horse-riders and battle scenes.
• The distractors are all significant sites of quite different character: Hampi is the Vijayanagara capital, Nalanda a Buddhist monastic university, and Pattadakal a Chalukyan temple complex.

Additional Information

• Bhimbetka was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2003 and was brought to scholarly attention by V. S. Wakankar in 1957.
• The name links the site to Bhima of the Mahabharata — *Bhimbetka* meaning "Bhima's sitting place".
• The paintings are stratified by period, so the same shelter may carry Mesolithic hunting scenes overlaid by later horsemen — which is precisely what makes the site's range, rather than any single image, its distinction.
• All four sites named in this question are UNESCO World Heritage Sites, so the discriminator is the prehistoric painting element, not the site's importance.