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This lesson tells you about rock paintings of Tamil nadu, the places where these paintings are found, the period they belong to, their kinds and historic references.

The five central units of this lesson also deal with the various themes of rock paintings. They are human figures, non human figures like animals, birds and fish, images like the sun, weapons, boats, deer-skin, symbols, mudras and ancient drawings on terracota and stones.

Living in caves, the ancient people drew pictures in caves, on the rocks within and outside. Both are called rock drawings. In the first stage, the pictures were mostly forms of animals. In the second stage, hunting scenes were depicted on rocks, and consisted of deer, sheep, pigs and cows. In the third stage, these paintings represented human war scenes, rituals and dance. In the first stage, lines and colours are predominant, with red being the prominent colour. In the second stage, red, white and black colours are seen. Based on these features, their period can be ascertained. Rock Paintings are also classified according to the way in which human and animals figures were drawn. They are Pakkavattu Murai (Profiles), Ner Vadiva Murai (Frontal view) and Thirumbi Kanum Murai (Where the rear of the body is depicted with the head turned towards the viewer).

Animal drawings are of two types, namely, large strong animals and common hunted animals. Deer, fish, horse, elephant, cow and even x-ray type pictures depicting inner organs are found. Other animals include thickly coloured sheep, peacock, jumping dog and pigs, wildcats and swans.

Human figures with animal as well as bird faces are also seen.

The ancient drawings indicate the regions where the bold stone age people lived.

This lesson would enable you to understand how rock paintings serve as a historical record of very ancient period.