I visited this WHS in November 2016. After a long drive from Aurangabad we decided to stop at a convenient village on the way to Bhopal so as to visit the Rock Shelters first thing in the morning on our way to Bhopal (instead of going to and fro from Bhopal).

600 metres above sea level and 100 metres above the surrounding valley lie the craggy sandstone formations of Bhimbetka amidst the Ratapani Wildlife Sanctuary. There are over 700 rock shelters with more than 400 of them having paintings. This makes Bhimbetka the largest repository of prehistoric art in India if not the whole of Asia.

The most striking thing about the paintings here is their superimposition over time. The paintings are mainly in red and white but there is also the occasional use of green and yellow with themes taken from everyday events such as hunting.

Entrance to the shelters costs only 100 rupees per person for foreigners + 250 rupees per vehichle if you want to avoid the rather uphill and desolate 2km walk to the site proper. It is the only WH site in India which still does not provide visitors with a new ASI printed ticket with a QR code but still relies on a handwritten one with government carbon copy (hence the cheaper price perhaps) which is clearly an indication of the few foreign visitors to this site.

Although I have visited several rock art WHS worldwide, I really enjoyed Bhimbetka as I could (still) experience the original paintings and apart from the famous Zoo Rock Shelter some other rock shelters required crawling, climbing and laying down on the floor to appreciate.

Some of the minor rock shelters seem almost 'undiscovered' and a bit of effort will certainly satisfy you curiosity. That said, if you read up before hand, it will be quite difficult to spend more than 2 hours to take in the rock shelters which are accessible to the public.

The Zoo Rock Shelter (picture) is the obvious highlight with 453 figures of different animals + 90 human figures and symbols. Most of them are from the Chalolithic but a few of them are from the Mesolithic period. There are as many as 10 layers of superimposed figures here.

My personal favourite though was the mythical boar/ox figure chasing a frightened hunter as it introduces the element of movement.

There are several similarities with the Levantine Rock Art sites I visited in Spain as part of the Rock Art of the Mediterranean Basin not only with regards to the paintings and the materials used but also with other findings such as cup marks, utensils, mixtures used, etc.

There are (or were?) plans to build a visitor centre here but perhaps it won't add much to the experience. I felt there were enough information boards and there is also a brand new brass UNESCO inscription plaque just before the first rock shelters.