The Bhimbetka rock shelters have been declared as a UNESCO world heritage site. Located in the Raisen district of Madhya Pradesh, these rock shelters and caves have a number of interesting paintings which depict the lives and times of the people who lived in the caves. The earliest paintings on the cave walls are believed to be upto 12,000 years old. South of these rock shelters are successive ranges of the Satpura hills. The entire area is covered by thick vegetation, has abundant natural resources in its perennial water supplies, natural shelters, rich forest flora and fauna, and bears a significant resemblance to similar rock art sites such as Kakadu National Park in Australia, the cave paintings of the Bushmen in Kalahari Desert, and the Upper Paleolithic Lascaux cave paintings in France.

These caves were first discovered in 1957 and since then over 240 such shelters have been discovered in Bhimbetka. The colours of the paintings have been remarkably well preserved and have not faded even today. The paints used for the paintings were made of colored earth, vegetable dyes, roots and animal fat. Communal activities, religious ceremonies, hunting, child birth, etc were the main themes of the cave paintings. The Zoo Rock Shelter (shelter number 4) is famous for its animal paintings depicting elephants, sambar, bison and deer.

Bhimbetka is 45 kms from Bhopal and can be covered as an excursion along with Bhojpur. The most convenient way to travel to Bhimbetka would be to hire a taxi from Bhopal.