Saṃsāra in Symbols: Visual Representations of Birth-Death Cycles in Vindhyan Region

Abstract

This paper investigates the symbolic representation of the birth-death-rebirth cycle in the rock art of the Vindhyan region of central India. Adopting an interdisciplinary framework that integrates archaeology, art history, Indian philosophical traditions, and symbolic analysis, the study examines visual motifs associated with fertility, pregnancy, childbirth, and cyclical cosmology documented at several rock art sites across the Vindhyan and Kaimur Ranges. Particular attention is given to recurring geometric motifs, especially the plus-in-circle symbol, which appears in association with human figures and ritual scenes. The analysis combines archaeological documentation of rock art imagery with comparative iconographic study and limited ethnographic parallels, situating these motifs within broader symbolic traditions of South Asia and other cultural contexts. Rather than asserting a direct doctrinal continuity between early imagery and later philosophical systems, the study cautiously explores whether these visual forms may reflect early cosmological perceptions concerning life, regeneration, and the cyclical nature of existence. By examining the intersection of visual symbolism, ritual imagery, and cultural memory, the paper suggests that certain motifs in Vindhyan rock art may represent proto-cosmological expressions of cyclical existence, concepts that later found more systematic articulation in Indian philosophical traditions. The study, therefore, contributes to ongoing debates on the interpretation of prehistoric symbolic systems and highlights the potential of rock art as a medium through which early communities articulated ideas about life, death, and renewal.