From the prehistoric Stone Age cave paintings at Bhimbetka, to the murals and rock-cut sculptures in the Ajanta and Ellora caves, Indian rock art is believed to contain some of the earliest recorded history of mankind, apart from being masterpieces of creativity in their own right. Despite the crowds of tourists who stream past these structures, however, there is not much knowledge available in India by way of interpretive treatment of prehistoric art.
The Union Culture Ministry aims to change that, with efforts to promote the study of these rock paintings and engravings as a separate discipline. Among the initiatives being implemented are a first-of-its-kind rock art centre at Nagpur, a rock art heritage park in Leh, a permanent gallery at the Mahant Ghasidas Memorial State Museum in Raipur, and a certificate course at the Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts (IGNCA) in Delhi, which will also help to develop academic course content on the subject, to be used at universities across India. The IGNCA is also signing MoUs with State departments of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) as well as universities, to explore research in the subject.
The term “rock art” refers to symbols or marks with no obvious purpose that have been painted or engraved onto natural rock surfaces. Some of these paintings and engravings in India are over 20,000 years old.
Academic programme
The Nagpur rock art centre, being developed by the ASI’s pre-history branch, will be inaugurated on November 17 next week.
IGNCA’s three-month certificate course is expected to begin next year. “The IGNCA has designed an academic programme on rock art, focussing on the exploration of the artistic manifestation emanating from man’s primary sense perceptions,” says Prof. Sachidanand Joshi, member-secretary of the IGNCA.
The aim is to pay special attention to interdisciplinary research involving allied disciplines like anthropology, geology, and art history, which can open up new horizons for the study of prehistoric art, he said.
Developing course content
As part of this initiative, the IGNCA will also organise a seven-day workshop in collaboration with Jnana Pravah, the Centre for Cultural Studies and Research at Varanasi, drawing experts from all these disciplines. The lectures delivered there, as well as the discussions held, will be developed into course material to be taught in universities and other higher educational institutions. Discussions are ongoing with many universities to start courses on rock art once this content is developed.
“A proper exploration and study of this art form can reveal the features of the civilisation that existed thousands of years ago,” says Prof. Joshi.
Primeval man’s vision
Such study will provide a global perspective on rock art research and encourage Indian scholars to dedicate themselves seriously to the discipline, as it is directly related to the primeval vision of man and perhaps represents the first creative act of early human beings.
The Adi Drishya division of the IGNCA has initiated several projects for the study of rock art and research, and outreach in this field. Several survey and pilot study programmes are being organised as part of the IGNCA’s National Project on the Rock Art of India to encourage scholars and students to take up this emerging discipline.
So far, the division has documented around 400 rock art sites across India using various themes, and has published 24 books, with four more in the pipeline.
