Expanded Publication of Rock Art and Tribal Life at the Betwa River Sources
After two years of work and two further disruptions caused by the pandemic, Center d’Estudis Competitors published the book Rock art and tribal life at the sources of the Betwa River. It brings together campaigns from 2019 and 2020 to document and catalog a dozen jacket sets, or shallow caves, that house stone art in the lands surrounding the Betwa river sources nestled in the Vindhya mountains, within the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.
The publication marks the 50th anniversary of MSK in 2021. Based in Cocentaina in 1971, the organization is dedicated to the protection and dissemination of cultural heritage, with a focus on prehistoric rock art. The group boasts about two hundred points of interest in the province and a membership of around fifty people. The pandemic delayed the edition, delaying its release and broader distribution.
Now Center d’Estudis Competitors presents the book in India, unveiling the work this Thursday at the Instituto Cervantes in New Delhi, at the invitation of the director, Oscar Pujol Riembau. Writers from Alicante, including José Elias Esteve, Amparo Martí, and Pere Ferrer, join with Indian co-authors KK Chakravarty, Rahas K. Mohanty, and Narayan Vhyas to share the results within this publication.
Earlier, CEC members will be received by the ambassador of Spain, Jose Maria Ridao Dominguez, at the Spanish Embassy in India. They then plan to travel to Bhopal, the capital of Madhya Pradesh, where the Vindhya mountains stand, to deliver several copies to representatives of various Indian institutions involved in the state’s cultural heritage.
The edited volume runs to seven hundred copies and spans 430 pages. It accompanies a large-format collection with about 1,500 photos and more than 40 drawings and reproductions of documented areas with pictorial records. The work demonstrates the complexity of ancient societies thriving in the Betwa river source region. Many images reveal motifs and scenes drawn from India’s prehistoric and historic past, with Ferrer guiding the chronology from prehistoric times—extending past 10,000 years—to the middle ages. The publication also contains hundreds of pages on ethnology and ethnography gathered from tribal villages in the region. As Ferrer notes, the documentation is substantial and the book stands as one of the most comprehensive treatments of this area.
India hosts a significant concentration of prehistoric paintings, and these regions remain less known globally. Following UNESCO’s 2003 recognition of Bhimbetka as a World Heritage Site and the start of MSK’s India trips in 2005, the aim is to highlight the Betwa river source lands as well. Ferrer emphasizes the book’s purpose: to illuminate the extraordinary legacy of rock art in this portion of India, while supporting protection and preservation efforts.
Published by Textilesol, which also funds a large portion of the campaigns, and supported by Cocentaina Town Hall, the project explores the possibility of producing an English or Hindi edition. Institutions in the region are cited as contributing to similar work elsewhere in Madhya Pradesh.
Varied Scenes and Motifs
The majority of motifs are zoomorphic, featuring elephants, buffaloes, bulls, deer, tigers, and bears, executed with naturalistic detail and compelling narrative quality, according to the MSK representative. The book also depicts inter-clan clashes, social life scenes, dances, games, and scenes of warfare with riders and on foot. Parades, dances, and abstract symbols or scenes appear, many of them with sexual themes, painted in red and white.
Cooperation with India Since 2005
A pamphlet containing cave paintings from India, passed to MSK by a friend, inspired the Cocentaina community to broaden their horizons and urged Indian authorities to cooperate in studying and cataloging the sites. Since the team’s first visit to Kathotiya Valley in 2005, they have conducted numerous journeys to the mountainous and forested region, documenting more than a hundred rock shelters in the area.