Ketavaram Rock Paintings

Ketavaram Rock Paintings is a protected prehistoric rock art site located in Ketavaram village, Orvakal Mandal, Kurnool District, Andhra Pradesh, on sandstone boulders along the Tungabhadra River. The site features paintings dated from the Upper Paleolithic to Megalithic periods, depicting bulls, deer, human figures and geometric motifs in red ochre, and is notable as one of the important rock art complexes in South India maintained by the Archaeological Survey of India.

Visitors can expect an open-air archaeological site among large quartzite and sandstone boulders and rock shelters along the river valley. The main attraction is panels of ancient paintings in red and white pigments on rock surfaces depicting animals, humans and patterns. The setting is natural and rugged with uneven terrain, sparse vegetation and river views. There are no built structures; exploration involves walking between boulders and viewing art panels at close range.

The Ketavaram rock shelters contain paintings attributed to the Upper Paleolithic through Mesolithic, Neolithic and Megalithic periods. The art, executed mainly in red ochre, documents early human life, fauna and symbolic expression in the Deccan region. The site is recognized as an important prehistoric rock art complex in Andhra Pradesh and is protected by the Archaeological Survey of India for its archaeological value.

The paintings represent early artistic and cultural traditions of hunter-gatherer and early agrarian communities in the Tungabhadra valley. Motifs of cattle, especially bulls, and human figures reflect the cultural importance of animals and daily life in prehistoric times and are studied for understanding the region's early cultural development.