Tikla, or Tikula, is an archeological site and ancient rock shelter in

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (; ; ) is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, Indore. Other major cities includes Gwalior, Jabalpur, and Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar. Madhya Pradesh is the List of states and union te ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, known for its

petroglyphs A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...

. Tikla is situated around south of

Mathura Mathura () is a city and the administrative headquarters of Mathura district in the states and union territories of India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is located south-east of Delhi; and about from the town of Vrindavan. In ancient ti ...

and southwest of

Gwalior Gwalior (Hindi: , ) is a major city in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh; It is known as the Music City of India having oldest Gwalior gharana, musical gharana in existence. It is a major sports, cultural, industrial, and political c ...

on the

Agra Agra ( ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra is the ...

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

road near the town of Mohana on the right bank of the Parvati river. Probably the earliest known Indian depiction of the Mathuran known as the

Vrishni heroes The Vrishni heroes (IAST: ''Vrishni, Vṛṣṇi vīras''), also referred to as ''Pancha-viras'' (IAST: ''Pañca vīras''; 'the five heroes'), are a group of five legendary, deified heroes who are found in the literature and archaeological sites ...

, is a rock painting found at Tikla. This rock painting is dated to the 3rd-2nd century BCE, based on the paleography of the

Brahmi Brahmi ( ; ; ISO: ''Brāhmī'') is a writing system from ancient India. "Until the late nineteenth century, the script of the Aśokan (non-Kharosthi) inscriptions and its immediate derivatives was referred to by various names such as 'lath' or ...

inscription accompanying it. The deities are depicted wearing a

dhoti The dhoti is an ankle-length breechcloth, wrapped around the waist and the legs, in resemblance to the shape of trousers. The dhoti is a garment of ethnic wear for men in the Indian subcontinent. The dhoti is fashioned out of a rectangular p ...

with a peculiar headdress, and are shown holding their attributes: a plow and a sort of mace for

Balarama Balarama (, ) is a Hindu god, and the elder brother of Krishna. He is particularly significant in the Jagannath tradition, as one of the triad deities. He is also known as Haladhara, Halayudha, Baladeva, Balabhadra, and Sankarshana. The fir ...

, and a mace and a wheel for

Vāsudeva Vāsudeva (; ), later incorporated as Vāsudeva-Krishna (, "Krishna, son of Vasudeva Anakadundubhi, Vasudeva"),"While the earliest piece of evidence do not yet use the name Krsna...." in At the time of the Heliodorus pillar dedication to Vāsu ...

. A third smaller character is added, forming what can be called a Vrishni trio, in the person of a female, thought to be the Goddess

Ekanamsha Ekanamsha (; ) is a Hindu goddess. She is primarily identified with the illusory power of Vishnu as Yogamaya. The goddess is believed to have been worshipped by the Vrishnis. Many "kinship triads", depicting Vasudeva Krishna, Balarama, and ...

, who seems to hold a '' Chatra'' royal umbrella. These depictions belong to "Period IV" of the rock shelter, and are accompanied by contemporaneous images of elephant riders, horse riders and flowers. Tikla has a famous carved petroglyph representing a maze. It is the earliest known maze design in India, is dated to 250 BCE, and it is thought that the design was introduced with the campaigns of

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...

."The earliest datable example is a cave painting at Tikla in Madhya Pradesh, India, from around 250 BCE...."

References

{{Prehistoric caves Archaeological sites in Madhya Pradesh Gwalior district