A review on rock paintings of India: Technique, pigment and conservation

Rock painting spans thousands of years of creative efforts and is as diverse as India's cultural practices, literature, and tradition. In India, there are over 1000 rock shelter sites with paintings. Amateurs discovered the majority of these sites. Archibald Carlleyle (1897), a British archaeologist, made the first systematic documentation in the mid-nineteenth century. Since the discovery in 1958 of a large collection of rock paintings found by Wakanakar at Bhimbetka in Madhya Pradesh, extensive research projects have been devised speculating on local and regional chronologies and styles. This paper provides a brief overview of Indian rock paintings, assisting readers in comprehending the history and distribution of rock paintings in different regions of India and its painting techniques and materials, pigments and binders, cause of deterioration, and management and conservation.