It is located south of Bhopal in Vidhyan ranges of Madhya Pradesh.
The rock shelters have more than 500 rock paintings. It was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2003.
The oldest paintings are estimated to be 30,000 years old and have survived due to its location deep inside the caves.
There is marked continuity in occupancy of the caves from 100,000 BC to 1000 AD with many paintings being painted on top of another.
The paintings at Bhimbetka belong to Upper Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Chalcolithic, early historic and medieval period. However, most of the paintings belong to the Mesolithic age.
The paintings generally portray every-day life of pre-historic men often in stick-like human figures. Various animals like elephant, bison, deer, peacock and snake are depicted. The paintings also show hunting scenes and war scenes with men carrying weapons like bows, arrows, spears, shields and swords. Some paintings also have simple geometric designs and symbols. The other themes of the paintings are dancing, playing music, animal fighting, honey collection, etc.
Social life is well-depicted with presence of children playing, women making food, community dancing, etc. Various colours like red ochre, purple, brown, white, yellow and green are used. Colours were obtained from natural resources, for example, Haematite ores were used for red colour.