The Documentation and Analysis of the Rock Art of Mirzapur District, Uttar Pradesh

Ajay Pratap, Professor,

Department of History,Faculty of Social Sciences,Banaras Hindu University,

Varanasi 221 005

The Sites and Their Geomorphological Setting

• Wyndham• Likhaniya Dari• Chuna Dari• Morhana• Lekhania• Mukkha Dari

Geo1

Geo2

Map1

Geo3

Geo4

Geo6

Geo8

Geo9

Geo10

Geo11

Geo11

Geo13

Geo14

About WYN 1

• WYN 1 is located very near the source of the Wyndham waterfalls and paintings occur on a 40-50 foot high cliff-face. It is very difficult to guess how these were executed or indeed to give them a close-up examination. There are no other paintings at or near WYN 1. As this site is very near the source of the waterfalls, and is located some fifty foot above it, and gives a clear view of animals coming to drink at a small pool of water nearby, it is a very ideal location for a prehistoric camp. Some broadly speaking Mesolithic axes occur in situ near the WYN 1 site. As the paintings here constitute but one solitary panel, located some sixty-feet above ground-level we had to document them only through photography, that is using a zoom lens.

WYN 1

View from WYN 1

View of Wyndham River From WYN 1

Close-up of paintings

Elephant/Giraffe/Dog

WYN 3

• WYN 2 occurs in a, lone shelter downstream from WYN 1. The paintings are very badly faded

• The following slides show the rock-art recorded at WYN 3. Here we have the maximum number of paintings at any given Wyndham Site and along with copious modern graffiti. Most paintings re either faded or covered with CaCo3 deposit and in need of chemical cleaning. This shelter is also visited by monkeys and other animals and other types of weathering such as plant (vegetation, macro) and micro-vegetation erosion of rock art through the growth of algae, fungi, lichen and moss is evident here. Birds nests, and wasps nests, beehives, cobwebs occur in the painted area.

• Mostly, individual animal figures occur; however, there is at least a few panels which we may label as narratives panels of some sort.

Paintings at WYN 3 – two thematic panel superimposed – content unresolved

Leopard figure? Deposit of CaCo3.

Thematic Painted panel – Content unresolved

Thematic panel – content unresolved

Animal figure – species unresolved

Thematic Panel – content unresolved

Figure on the ceiling – iconic representing what unresolved – perhaps monitor lizard (Varanus monitor)

View of left-margin of WYN 3 shelter

Forward View from WYN 3 shelter of the Wyndham River

WYN 4 Site

• The WYN 4 site has two painted shelter• One has a asymmetrical paintings with four figure of eight paintings. And a group of

seven or eight vertical lines. And an animal drawing in between the two. • This shelter is located some 100 meters adjacent to WYN 3 shelter along the course

of the same river.• There occur two separate painted panels• The first to the left with some basic figures and lines.• The second to the right with one thematic panel and some individual drawings on its

ceiling.

Children’s Doodles?

Figure of 8 and basic animal figure Close-up

Tiger?

Arrow Cross-fire Panel at WYN 4

Close-Up

Mid-section, Figure of 8 from shelter at left occurs here too with superimposition of paintings of this panel

Extreme-right

Left of right

House, extreme right

Archer, with back to house

House, archer, house with seated and standing human figures

Human figures, extreme-left of the panel

Human figures, extreme-left

Humans, flying arrows, mid-section

Figure of 8, child doodle? However, differing pigmentation

Likhaniya Dari

• Likhaniya Dari is located in the Vindhyan Range near Sukrit lying in the Sonbhadra Division of Uttar Pradesh.

• It is located right next to the Robertsganj highway, under a culvert, under the highway, where a seasonal stream, called Garai, has cut a channel through the Vindhyan range.

• It is extremely easily accessible and there is here but one painted panel.• Paintings here are in a very good state of preservation despite some degree

of defacement.

Sandstone Hills destroyed by quarrying for Patias (Sandstone-Slabs)

Approach

location

Garai River: Mountain fed stream

Main Panel at Likhaniya

Inverted paintings on the ceiling

Six juxtaposed periods of paintings

What species of deer?

Historic period elephant painting

Panel 1 at Likhaniya

Panel 2 and 3 at Likhaniya

Same Fig., panel 2

Animal like fig., panel 2, Likhaniya

Close-up on one part of the beehive fig., Likhaniya

Panel at Right: Prehistoric panel

Right top and bottom panels

Panel at right: Man hunting tiger and leopard

Remarks about Likhaniya Dari

.This is a multi-period painting site.

.the earliest panel here, probably prehistoric is at the right hand bottom margin.

.the remaining paintings were executed on the same surface over a long period of time.

.some of the six distinguishable panels are thematic panels although they are historic.

Chuna Dari

• Chuna Dari (CHD 1 and CHD 2) is the name given to two painted shelters which lie about 2 KM upstream the Garai River on which, Likhaniya Dari, is also located.

it lies upstream from Likhaniya, and quite away from the drainage channel at Likhaniya, this site, which contains many paintings of prehistoric and historic origins. As these sites are away from the Forest Department naka it has been extensively damaged by picnickers and revellers.

• In some cases modern plastic and emulsion paints have been used to deface the prehistoric and historic images.

• This is perhaps the most defaced site in this region.

Chuna Dari (CHD 1) – prehistoric paintings submerged under modern graffiti

Chuna Dari Painted Shelter – submerged designs

Chuna Dari: Damaged Paintings

Chuna Dari: soot and termite runs on on cave shelter ceiling

Paintings on the ceiling (CHD 1) circumscribed with modern graffiti

Faded Painted pattern – Children’s Doodles?

Faded designs

Red-geru, chess-board type painted figure

Remote-view, same figure, children’s doodles.

Faded-designs

Soot-overlay over prehistoric painted figures, camp-fires modern or ancient?

Prehistoric painted figures overlain with modern graffiti at the mouth of the cave (CHD 1)

Historical Period, Camel-cart painting on roof above the mouth of the Cave CHD 1

Three figures on the top of Chuna Dari shelter adjacent to camel Cart painting

Close up

Close-up

Close up of three animal figures, Chuna Dari (CHD 1)

New Paintings found at Paintings at CHD 2

CHD- 2

CHD - 2

The Moraha Pahar Sites

• The Morhana Pahar sites are distributed in three distinct cluster. In our survey we have described these as A.C.Carlyle Shelters-Group One, some six shelters, occurring near the Drummondganj-Rewa Highway, before Bhainsor Village.

• Carlyle Group Two shelters some six of them occur a far way away on this Vindhyan Plateau, well-away from Morhana-Group One, but occur in the same geological and ecological settings.

• The third and final group, as per our present knowledge, is the Lekhaniya-Morhana sites, comprising a multi-chambered shelter at Lekhaniya, occurring south-east of Bhansior village and perhaps 3 KM distance from it.

• We are yet to explore and document Laharia-Dih shelter occurring on Mura Hills (cf. Jayaswal) some distance beyond Bhainsor toards Rewa.

Morhana Pahar Sites: Group One

Brief description

• This group of some six, possibly more, shelters occurs just next to the Mirzapur-Rewa highway much before the Bhainsor town.

• Right next to the road occur a group of shelters interspersed with flat maidans.

• Some six of these bear paintings – human, animal and designs.

CAR - 1

CAR 2: Brief description

• CAR 2 occurs well-away from CAR 1 and is in close proximity to CAR 3, CAR 4 and CAR 5.

• All these painted shelters have been classed as Group One shelters as they occur in close proximity to each other. Some shelters at fit for habitation, others only for painting.

CAR 3: brief description

• This shelter has very few images executed in Geru which depict human activity.

CAR 3

CAR 3

CAR 4

• CAR 4 enjoys a magnificent view of the surrounding plains or plateaux.

• As with CAR 3 this is a miniscule shelter with very few paintings.

CAR 4

CAR 4

CAR 5

• CAR 4 is a largest shelter of Morhana Group One and has a considerable soil deposit on its floor.

• It bears numerous paintings with some early species of animals like the Zebu.

• It also bears many simple geometric figures.• It has considerable soil deposit inside the shelter

CAR 5

CAR 6

• CAR 6 is a isolated and very high shelter and for that reason inaccessible and therefore not recorded.

Morhana Pahar: Group two

• Morhana Pahar – cluster two sites, some seven in number are located a few kilometers away from Morhana Cluster One.

• These have also been studied by RK Varma in the past with trial trenches still visible.

• These contain numerous human, animal and abstract designs. Megalithic burials also occur here.

• Paintings are found executed in Red, Black, White as well as Yellow colours.

CAR 7

CAR 8

Location of CAR 7, CAR 8 and CAR 9 with respect to each other

CAR 9

CAR 10

CAR 11

CAR 12

Man on Horse with sword and sheild – superimposed upon another painting

Elephant surrounded by numerous human figures, possibly being hunted.

CAR 13 – adjacent to CAR 12 – numerous hand stencils

Lekhahniya-Morhna: a brief note

• Lekhaniya has previously been excavated by R.K. Varma and is most distinguished of all the shelters in this area as it has an abundant history of settlement.

• The shelters is very big, multi-chambered, with at least five distinct areas which have been profusely painted and these may have comprised long-term residential units within the Lekhaniya shelter.

• Painted-areas are located at the ground-level, with paintings of humans and animals, and RK Varma’s excavations near these revealed several burials.

• Thus Lekhaniya 1, in R. K. Varma’s classification, represents a long-term residence camp.

• Much Chert and Chalcedony fragments are still to be found around these shelters.

Landscape around Lekhaniya Morahna Shelter 1

Chamber 1

Chamber 2

Chamber 3

Landscape as seen from Chamber 3

Chamber 4

Chamber 5- entrance

Landscape

paintings

Mukkha Dari• The site of Mukkha Dari is situated in the peneplain country near Ghorawal Tehsil

and constitutes a Water Fall site which has painted rock shelters (MKD 1, MKD 2 and MKD 3).

• It is located in a deep gorge carved-out by a subsidiary drainage of the Belan River which flows some Kilometers from here.

• It has a very deep cascade and even in the dry season it has sufficient water accumulation so as to make it a site suitable for year-around prehistoric camps.

• The Mukkha Dari is located inside a Reserved Forest area and abounds in game.• Three painted shelters occur on the southern-face of this Dari or waterfall.• These bear paintings of antelopes and other cervidae, possibly Bos Gaurus, and

other bovidae, fish of unidentifiable type, elephant (Elephas Sp.), human figures engaged in various activities, and designs : outline figures of hand, some geometric designs with or without infilling.

• At MKD 1 paintings are near the ground on exposed surface and therefore considerably faded.

• At MKD 2 the paintings are at a height of some one hundred feet from the channel of the drainage and has therefore survived degradation to some extent. This location bears the largest density of paintings amongst all sites at Mukkha Dari surveyed till-now.

• Like MKD 1 MKD 2 has just some rudimentary paintings of cervids and humans.

Mukkha Dari Site Landscape: source

Downstream: view from MKD 2

View from MKD 3

February drainage at MKD 2 Shelter

View downstream from MKD 2

More views downstream from MKD 1 and MKD 2

Paintings at MKD 1

MKD 2

MKD 2

MKD 2

MKD 3