Om Prakash Sharma has sacrificed his sweets business for making stunning archaeological discoveries for the benefit of mankind

Om Prakash Sharma is a halwai turned Archaeologist. He is from Bundi in Rajasthan. His nickname is Kuki.

Om Prakash says he belonged to a simple family. His father was a poor halwai and they did not have money. Due to financial constraints he studied till class eight only.

Om Prakash recalls that in 1978, his neighbour went into the mountains to search for precious stones. He took Om Praksh with him. Om Prakash liked to pray at hidden religious places and mandirs in the mountains, so he went along with him. He found some old coins and started collecting them. Gradually he built quite an impressive collection of coins.

In 1988 he went to Delhi with about 250 coins. He went to the National Museum and showed his collection to the coin expert there. The coin expert was amazed to see his collection. She explained to him that his collection had coins which were 100 to 600 years old. One particular coin especially caught her attention as it was from the 4th century BC belonging to the Maurya Era. As Om Prakash had some interest in History, he, with her permission, went around the museum. When he saw the prehistoric and ancient articles exhibited there, he was astounded as he recalled that he had seen such items in the mountains but had not attached much importance to them.

After he came back he developed an interest in archaeology. In his visits to the mountains, he found and collected ancient stone tools, beads, terracotta items, pottery etc. In 1993 he discovered a hill about 16 kms from Bundi. The hill was a treasure of ancient archaeological items. He found arrowheads and copper items there. He took his collection to the Director of the Archaeological Survey of India, who was amazed to see his findings. The director said that this was a big discovery of copper-age items.

Om Prakash's life changed. He became totally devoted to Archaeology. He discovered mesolithic and microlithic tools and many other things. Someone suggested that he also  look for rock paintings. He looked for them from 1995 to 1997 but could not find any. Finally in 1997, about 17 kms from Bundi, in a waterfall called Rameshwar Mahadev, he struck upon marvellous rock painting inside a cave. In 1998 he discovered an even bigger site full of rock paintings. Experts from all over the world came to see his discoveries.

Om Prakash claims he is the only person in the world to have discovered more than hundred rock painting sites. He says he is so infatuated to his discoveries that he is not at all fatigued even at this age. As soon as the pandemic goes away, he will again start going into the mountains. He laments that as he comes from a simple background his work has not received the type of recognition it deserves. He has done two big things -discovered more than hundred sites and also discovered the longest running rock painting site covering about 35-40 kms. He complains that people who are in government jobs get awards for lesser findings, but he does not get anything despite deserving more. He says he sacrificed his business, his and his family’s well-being for the benefit of the country. He doesn't care about money. He says one day Mukesh Ambani or Bill Gates will also leave the world empty handed but history and the mountains and sites of Bundi will remember him-Kuki.  Kuki will always be remembered and that will be his reward.

Om Praksh believes the sites have a type of supernatural feeling within them. You have to get tuned to these vibes to make the discoveries.

Om Prakash is very fond of music and singing. He says his family sometimes gets tired of his singing. Even in his school days he defeated the entire school in Antakshari.

He and his son work as tourist guides and take the visiting archaeologists to the sites and that is the only source of income they have. During Covid his income has stopped completely. But, he says he doesn't care much about money.

His message for everyone is that be carefree and happy, that will also boost your immunity.