Ubirr facts for kids
Ubirr is a special place in Kakadu National Park in the Northern Territory of Australia. It's famous for its amazing rock art. Ubirr has several rocky areas with natural shelters. These shelters are covered in Aboriginal rock paintings. Some of these paintings are thousands of years old!
The art shows important creation ancestors. It also shows animals that live in the area. You can see fish like barramundi, catfish, and mullet. There are also goannas, different kinds of turtles, possums, and wallabies. From the top of Ubirr, you get a fantastic view. You can see the wide floodplains and rocky cliffs all around.
Ubirr is about 40 kilometers from the town of Jabiru. You can get there by a sealed road. Sometimes, if there's a lot of rain, the road might be closed. A short walk from the car park leads you to the main art sites.
People have been painting on the rocks at Ubirr for a very long time. Some paintings date back as far as 40,000 BCE. Most of the art you see today was created about 2,000 years ago. Some paintings have even been refreshed in more recent times. There are three main art galleries that visitors can explore. Park rangers, including many Indigenous rangers, often give talks at these sites. They share stories about the art and the land.
Main Art Gallery
The main gallery at Ubirr is very popular. It has many examples of "X-ray art." This style shows the inside of animals, like their bones and organs. It's like looking through them with X-ray vision!
In this gallery, you might also see paintings of white men. They are shown with their hands on their hips. High up on the rocks, there are paintings of Mimi spirits. These spirits are said to be very thin. They can slip in and out of tiny cracks in the rock. It's a mystery how the artists reached these high spots to paint them. Local stories say the Mimi spirits painted the pictures themselves. They supposedly brought the rock down to the ground to do it.
At one end of the main gallery, you can see a painting of a thylacine. This animal is also known as the Tasmanian tiger. It has been extinct in this area for about 2,000 years. This painting shows just how old some of the art at Ubirr truly is.
Rainbow Serpent Gallery
This is a very special and sacred place at Ubirr. Traditionally, only women were allowed here. However, this rule is often relaxed for visitors who are not Indigenous. This spot is important because of the Rainbow Serpent. The Rainbow Serpent is also called "Garranga'rreli."
According to Aboriginal beliefs, the Rainbow Serpent traveled across northern Australia during the Dreaming. As she moved, she "sang" the land into being. She created the rocks, plants, animals, and people. This path, or songline, is still sacred to Indigenous people today.
Images for kids
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Panorama from Ubirr
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Ubirr
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