Badbil Ushakuthi Rock Shelter Nestled within the undulating landscape of western Odisha, Badbil Ushakuthi lies about 2 km southwest of the birthplace of the Champali, a perennial stream that nourishes the region. Some 6 km away from the nearest habitation - Badbil village - the site falls within Ghosaramal Panchayat of Naktideul Tehsil, Sambalpur District. The rock shelter is of particular significance due to the overwhelming predominance of vulva motifs, constituting nearly 98% of the total subject matter. These motifs are interpreted as symbolic representations of female or mother goddesses. Badbil Ushakuthi represents the first documented cave art site in Odisha recorded by Archaeological Survey of India. It has been newly added to the corpus of previously documented rock shelter sites in the region. Till date, around 120 rock art shelters have been documented across various localities in Odisha by different scholars; however, no cave art site had been formally recorded prior to the present discovery. This makes Badbil Ushakuthi a landmark contribution to the understanding of prehistoric art traditions in the state. The petroglyphs observed at the site consist of pigmented engravings executed in ochre, black, and white. The thematic repertoire includes vulva motifs, paw marks, zoomorphs rendered through both engraving and pigmented engraving techniques, and a solitary rectilinear motif in dark reddish-black pigment. Evidence of superimposition and multi-layered pigmentation on several motifs suggests continuity in artistic tradition and underscores the sustained cultural significance of both the motifs and the shelter. Cultural materials recovered from the site include microlithic tools such as blades, crescents, fluted cores, and flakes made from quartz crystal and chert. Additionally, polished stone tools, grinding holes, grinding stones, and pestles were observed on the cave floor, indicating diverse subsistence and technological activities associated with the site. Source: Archaeological Survey of India