8,000-years-old rock paintings found in Bhongir dist

Hyderabad: A prehistoric rock painting of animals and men were spotted at Pyararam village in Bommalaramaram mandal in Yadadri-Bhongir district on Saturday.

Based on the information provided by Ahobilam Karunakar, Md Naseeruddin, Koravi Gopal and Md Anwar Pasha, Members of the Kotta Telangana Charitra Brindam led by Sriramoju Haragopal, Archaeologist and Pleach India Foundation CEO E Sivanagi Reddy rushed to the spot along with the team and explored the rock art thoroughly. According to him, the team documented rock paintings of 6 humped bulls, one porcupine, two antelopes and two stick type human figures executed in red ochre on the back wall and ceiling of the serpent hood shaped rock shelter located at a height of 50 feet from the ground level and at a distance of 2 km towards the north of the village.

The team noticed occurrences of Mesolithic stone tools and Neolithic grooves in the close proximity of the site. The rock shelter was also depicted with a full figure of a lady carrying something on her head belonging to the early historic period and two human couples engaged in erotic postures datable to the medieval period 15th-16th Centuries. The fresh evidence clearly revealed that the rock shelter continued to be habitable right from the Mesolithic times to the medieval period, he added.

Sivanagi Reddy sensitised the villagers on the archaeological significance of the rock paintings and appealed to them to preserve them for posterity in the light of hectic quarrying activity in the surroundings.