<P> The site consisting of 1,892 hectares was declared as protected under Indian laws and came under the management of the Archaeological Survey of India in 1990 . It was declared as a world heritage site by UNESCO in 2003 . </P> <P> Of the numerous shelters, the Auditorium cave is one of the significant features of the site . Surrounded by quartzite towers which are visible from several kilometers distance, the Auditorium rock is the largest shelter at Bhimbetka . Robert Bednarik describes the prehistoric Auditorium cave as one with a "cathedral - like" atmosphere, with "its Gothic arches and soaring spaces". Its plan resembles a "right - angled cross" with four of its branches aligned to the four cardinal directions . The main entrance points to the east . At the end of this eastern passage, at the cave's entrance, is a boulder with a near - vertical panel that is distinctive, one visible from distance and all directions . In archaeology literature, this boulder has been dubbed as "Chief's Rock" or "King's Rock", though there is no evidence of any rituals or its role as such . The boulder with the Auditorium Cave is the central feature of the Bhimbetka, midst its 754 numbered shelters spread over few kilometers on either side, and nearly 500 locations where rock paintings can be found, states Bednarik . </P> <P> The rock shelters and caves of Bhimbetka have a large number of paintings . The oldest paintings are found to be 30,000 years old, but some of the geometric figures date to as recently as the medieval period . The colors used are vegetable colors which have endured through time because the drawings were generally made deep inside a niche or on inner walls . The drawings and paintings can be classified under seven different periods . </P> <P> Period I--(Upper Paleolithic): These are linear representations, in green and dark red, of huge figures of animals such as bison, tigers and rhinoceroses . </P>

Write a short note on the paintings discovered at bhimbetka