"Rock Art: Archives of Our Ancestors" is a festschrift to Padma Shri Dr. Vishnu Shridhar Wakankar alias Haribhau, the world renowned scholar of rock art who discovered the caves and rock shelters of Bhimbetka (Raisen district, Madhya Pradesh, India) in 1957-58. Year 2019 is the birth centenary of Dr. Vishnu Shridhar Wakankar and the torch given by him is still illuminating the path of scholars and new researchers. The papers (21 in number) prepared with the help of modern techniques and equipments present the references and contexts of rock art found from India in which they were initially produced. The chronology, the evolutionary changes and development and even documentation of new or lesser known sites are important attributes of these papers. These are not simple depictions, but are one amongst the oldest forms of human expressions of his feelings, behavior, life style, habits, and livelihoods, social, cultural and religious life too and is found throughout the world that dates back thousands of years ago. It can well be said that the work started by Dr. V. S. Wakankar has long way to go and the vigilant scholars and novices are successful in unveiling the unknown world of primitive men through their researches.
Dr. Niharika, born 1958 in Varanasi of Uttar Pradesh, India is a great lover of literature, history and archaeology. She graduated with a Masters in AIHC & Archaeology from Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi and did her Ph.D. on "Stone Beads in Ancient India" from the same institution. An award-winning author with 10 books on history and archaeology, more than 35 papers and articles published in National and International journals. She has been awarded first prize by Ministry of Culture, India for original writing in Hindi on Archaeology. She is Chief Editor and Publisher of the International bi-annual research journal 'Arnava', under continuous publication since 2012. She also writes stories and poems published in reputed magazines and has published 4 books of Hindi literature. One of her stories has been added to the academic syllabus of Graduation level in SRTM University, Nanded, Maharashtra.
Sachin Kr. Tiwary, born in 1985 in Chaibasa (Singhbhum district of Jharkhand in India), has a great passion for the field of archaeology right from his college days. He has passed Graduation and Post Graduation from Banaras Hindu University and also completed Post Graduate Diploma in Archaeology from Institute of Archaeology in 2009. He has been awarded his Ph.D. degree on "Rock Art of Kaimur Region (Bihar)" from Patna University, Patna. He has worked as Archaeologist and Deputy Superintending Archaeologist in Archaeological Survey of India from 2009 to 2015. At present he is serving as Assistant Professor in the Dept. of AIHC and Archaeology, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi. He has more than 35 articles and research papers published in International, National and regional Journals. He has also presented several research papers in many International, National and regional seminars, conferences and workshops. He has six books to his credit. He is Associate Editor of "Arnava"; a bi-annual International Research Journal. He is life member of many international and national societies of Archaeology and Indology such as IAS, ISPOS, RASI and IAHC.
It is a privilege. a pleasure and an honour to write the foreword for this volume, which celebrates the 100 anniversary of the Indian eminent scholar Dr. Vishnu Shridhar Wakankar, the pioneer of rock art studies in India. Dr. Wakankar became world known due to his discovery of rock art in the caves and rock shelters of Bhimbetka (Madhya Pradesh, India), in 1957, which later received the distinction as an UNESCO World Heritage Site.
This text does not intend to make the biography of Dr. Wakankar, what was already done by other authors, but since some students and young researchers, mainly outside India, may not be aware of his work, it's important to make here a short description of his major achievements.
Vishnu Shridhar Wakankar was born on the 4 of May of 1919 at Neemuch, a town in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, and died on the 3 of April of 1988. He was an artist by education but be preferred to dedicate his life to prehistory, archaeology and numismatics, being also very active in social work and as freedom fighter. Dr. Wakankar got his PhD from Deccan College, Pune, Maharashtra and held important positions in diverse academic institutes, being also involved in numerous archaeological surveys, not only in India but also in Europe, North America and the Middle East. Between 1961 and 1963 he got a French government Scholarship for research in the Sorbonne (Paris) and in 1966 he received an invitation for studying rock art in the United States of America. He worked with eminent personalities such as Mortimer Wheeler, Glyn Daniel, Miles C. Burkitt, Frederick E. Zeunner, Andre Leroi Gourhan, and Hasmukh Dhirajlal Sankalia, among many others. In 1975, he received the Padmashree Award, one of India's highest civilian honours. Along his career, he discovered more than 4000 painted rock shelters throughout India, traced the basin of the now-dried-up Saraswati River, considered to hold many secrets of the Indian civilization, published 6 books and over 400 research papers. He lectured at more than sixteen places outside India.
Dr. Wakankar perfectly deserves the title of "the Pitamaha of Rock Art in India", being considered by Dr. Yashodhar Mathpal as an encyclopaedia of Indian rock art.
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