Bhima Mandali caves in Odisha to be developed as Global Heritage site

Key facts

• Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan announced that the Bhima Mandali caves in the Rairakhol sub-division of Sambalpur, Odisha, will be developed into a premier global heritage destination.
• The caves are situated within the Naktideul Forest Range, 92 km from Sambalpur town and 15 km from Naktideul.
• The site is believed to be over 10,000 years old, with further archaeological verification potentially dating it back 15,000 to 20,000 years.
• The site contains rock paintings and stone inscriptions over 20,000 years old and served as shelter for early humans from the Old Stone Age to the Neolithic period.
• The site is associated with the Pandavas from the Mahabharata and named after Bhima, who is said to have built a dam on the Champali River.