The paintings of Bagh and Ajanta have their traditions rooted in the Prehistoric Period. They symbolize human emotion, which is based primarily on religious life. The paintings of the Bagh Caves were brought again to light during AD 1907-08. This portion of the Vindhyan Hills falls in the Kukshi Tehsil of Dhar District. The Bagh Caves are known after the village Bagh, which, in turn took its name from the river known as Bagh. Bagh is situated on the trade route that lead to deep south India. There are 9 caves at Bagh. These caves are not interconnected. The Caves nos 4 & 5 have a common verandah, which is about 65 m long. The ceiling rests on 20 large piilars. These caves have number of carved chambers, verandahs cells, pillars and monolithic stupas inside them. Images of Buddha, Bodhisattva, Avlokiteshwar, Maitraya and river goddess are the main sculptures noticed inside the caves.

The Caves nos 2, 3, 4, 5 and 7 have paintings on ils wails. The paintings of Caves nos 4 and 6 are more important as these have depiction of scenery. The paintings of Bagh are similar to the Ajanta paintings; both are of the same time period. The depiction of flowers, birds and animals form an important part of the paintings. The floral ornamentation in the painting differs from those at Ajanta and shows greater dynamism of life. These wall paintings are painted on lime wash surface as in Ajanta. There are only scarce remains of the paintings on the walls now. The paintings belong to the Gupta period, 5-6th centuries AD. During the year 1921, under the aegis of the erstwhile Gwalior State Archaeological Depll, eminent artist like A.K. Haldar and Nandlal Bose made exact copies of the paintings on canvas. The Indian Society published these as a monograph in the year 1927. Later, in 1938, S. Couchdurian painted the wall paintings of Bagh on canvas.