Lakhudiyar Rock Shelters and Its Rock-Art: Rock-Paintings and their Socio-Cultural Implications

Abstract

Rock shelters have served as one of the earliest homes for the man. They have provided the primitive man with a place where he could live and flourish. It has been a human tendency from the earliest times to record in some ways his experiences and sightings of life, general as well as special ones. The Rock-Art made by the early humans are one marvellous example of that. In India, some wonderful examples of rock-art are available to us from various parts. Their time period ranges from stone age to medieval period. One such important site of rock paintings is Lakhudiyar in Uttarakhand. This prehistoric rock shelter has many rock-paintings made by its primitive residents. These rock-paintings are not mere artistic depictions, but are great source to reconstruct the socio-cultural traditions of the prehistoric man of that region as well. These paintings, therefore, need to be understand holistically. This paper attempts to study these paintings from artistic perspectives as well as socio-cultural perspectives by analyzing deeply these paintings and understanding them beyond their face value. Hence, not only their artistic significance but their broader implications will be dealt with too within the ambits of this paper.