In a picturesque location within massive sandstone outcrops of the Vindhyan hills near Bhopal, the UNESCO-listed World Heritage Site of Bhimbetka has clusters of natural rock shelters, displaying paintings that appear to date the Upper Paleolithic Era right through the historical period. The rock shelters were discovered by an archaeologist, Wakanker, in 1957 and cover about 1000 caves, half of which have bold paintings. Three different periods, each with its own distinctive style, have been identified. A paved pathway leads through rocks that show the best paintings.

The oldest have green outline drawings of human figures, and large red images of animals carbon-dated to reveal origins in the Upper Paleolithic Era, more than 10,000 years ago, when the tools were remarkably well-executed for the time. The bulk of the paintings are from the Mesolithic Period, dated 8000 to 5000 BC or the stone-age phase when the caves show maximum signs of occupation with depictions of daily life, dynamic hunting scenes with animals, and small stylized human figures engrossed in ceremonies, burials, masked group dances, games, battles, hunts, etc.

Some of the most interesting sights here are the Auditorium Rock, the Zoo Rock and the Boar Rock. The Zoo Rock Shelter is the most densely painted, with figures like those of a Mesolithic boar painted in dark red, and other animal art. The Boar Rock depicts a mythical boar with horns larger than the human form it is chasing. Later paintings, dated to about the 1st century AD, show battle scenes, deities and an elephant.. Bhimbetka is located in a jungle area where some animals and birds can be seen.