The chapter aims at reconstructing life ways of the authors of the Indus Civilization based on the artefacts unearthed from various sites in India and Pakistan. We will also discuss the major hindrances for the identification of religious institutions of the civilization.

1. INDUS RELIGION
DR. RAJIV KUMAR JAISWAL
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR
AIHC & ARCHAEOLOGY
VASANTA COLLEGE FOR WOMEN
RAJGHAT, VARANASI

2. EARLY CIVILIZATIONS OF THE OLD WORLD

3. Introduction
• The period between c. 2600 BCE and 1900 BCE is generally known as the
Integration Era.
• At the beginning of the Integration Era, most of the regional cultures of the
Greater Indus region integrated into a widespread urban society, the
Harappa Phase/Indus period.
• The urban society distributed over a vast area, extensive and densely
populated cities, monumental architecture, social stratification,
technologically complex craft activities, existence of fulltime specialist
craftsmen, transport workers, merchants, officials, peasants, pastoralists
and priests, standardized weights and measures, naturalistic art
expressions, use of a script and maritime trade with Mesopotamia and
Egypt are the distinguishing features of this period.

4. Cont……
• In the absence of a deciphered script (the written language), it was
formerly thought that archaeologists would find it difficult to
convincingly understand the society, life-ways, religious and polity of
the Indus Civilization. Archaeological methodology has made it
possible to draw definitive inferences from a systematic study of the
large body of material culture remains unearthed from a complex
variety of sites in India and Pakistan. Some the major sites include
Harappa, Mohenjo Daro, Lothal, Kalibangan, Dholavira, Rakhigarhi,
etc.

5. The Harappan civilization, quite sensational that it is, is
notable for:
 Attaining a high degree of sophistication
 Standardization and utilitarianism in all spheres of life such as :
• Settlement planning
• Monumental buildings
• Impressive architecture
• Water structures
• Sanitation
• Stamp seals
• Script
• Weights and measures
 Pottery
 Art: glyptic, terracotta, bronze, stone, etc.
 Jwellery: gold, silver, copper, ivory, shell, bone, clay, semi-precious stones,
fainece, steatite, etc.
 Implements: metals, stone, shell, bone

7. Objectives
• The chapter aims at reconstructing life ways of the authors of the
Indus Civilization based on the artefacts unearthed from various sites
in India and Pakistan. We will also discuss the major hindrances for
the identification of religious institutions of the civilization.

8. Religion
• Our knowledge about beliefs and rituals prevalent in the Indus society is
scanty due to rarity of artefacts conveying religious significance in
important structural contexts. None of the excavated sites of the
civilization provided clear-cut evidence for the existence of a religious
shrine or temple probably owing to the lack of proper insight for
recognizing such structures or due to the total absence of them.
• Another major reason for the same is un-deciphered script and absence of
bilingual written records.
• Even in the absence of a positively identified
• Temple or a place of worship, various scholars including John Marshall
argued that Hinduism had its roots in the Indus Civilization.

9. Cont….
• On the basis of the discovery of so called Proto-Siva seal and phallic
emblems from Mohenjo Daro, Marshall suggested Saivism as the
longest living faith in the world having a history of five thousand years
or more and this interpretation has been accepted globally with a few
criticisms.
• Based on this theory, arteacts recovered from the Indus sites showing
similarities to the Hindu cult objects such as terracotta female
figurines, phalli, vulvas, horned deities, trees, bathing plat forms an
fire altars were attested to the Indus religion.

10. Terracotta Female Figurines
• Thousands of terracotta female figurines recovered from the Harappan
sites in Sindh and Punjab regions of Pakistan have been identified as
mother goddess figurines. These types of figurines are occurring in very
limited quantity at the sites in India.
• The stylized figurines are normally represented with or without ornate fan
shaped headdresses, ornaments, bare breasts, attenuated waist and short
skirts. The cup shaped attachments having smoke clouds in the headdress
might have used as lamps. There is no clear evidence that whether the
female figurines represent the fertility cult or earth goddess.
• In order to connect the female figurines with mother Goddess, Marshal
described a seal from Harappa depicting a nude female in upside down
posture with legs apart and a plant growing from her vulva symbolically
representing the production of vegetation from the womb of mother earth.

13. Mehrgarh Pd VI & VII

14. Male Figurines
• In comparison to the female figurines, male terracotta figurines are less in
number. The
• figurines are always represented in nude and some of them wear necklaces
and bangles.
• Some of the male figurines are represented with tied long hair and beard.
• In the absence of clear evidences it is not viable to predict whether the
male figurines represent the consort of Mother Goddess.
• Seated sandstone male figurine from Dholavira, seated sandstone male
sculpture with cloak and braided hair or head band, seated limestone
sculpture with shell inlaid eye and decorated head band and sandstone
head with braided hair from Mohenjodaro are probably representing the
male gods or priests.

15. Dholavira human figurines

17. Priest King
• An 18 cm tall white steatite sculpture unearthed from Mohenjo Daro is popularly
known as priest king. It has a short beard and shaven upper lip. This fashion
resembles the gods and men in ancient Sumer. The lips are full, and the broken nose
was possibly of normal size.
• Trefoil decoration in relief is carved on the cloth which is represented over the left
shoulder
• and under the right arm of the figurine. The hair is cropped and parted in the middle
and
• secured by a fillet tied round the head with two long ends hanging down behind.
• The eyes are partially closed and are inlaid with shells and slash on the shells
symbolize moderately covered pupils.
• Based on the partially closed eyes, a few scholars considered the figurine as
representation of state of yoga. In the absence of clear evidences it is not possible to
say that it represents either a priest or a king.

20. Dieties
• In one of the seals known as seal of divine adoration, a human figurine having
horned headdress usually interpreted as a deity is shown standing on a tree with
a praying human figurine and a sacrificial goat. Seven standing human figures
depicted in the lower panel of the seal might be representing the devotees.
Representation of a man holding a scimitar and a seated figure with disheveled
hair on one side of the seal and other side showing female in upside down
posture and a plant coming out of her vagina has been interpreted as human
sacrifice to a tree spirit.
• A number of terracotta tablets depicting horned male or female human figurines
in various contexts may have religious significance. A human figurine struggling
with two tigers appears on seals from Mohenjo Daro might have some
association with early representations of Sumerian Gilgamesh who assisted his
friend Enkidu in the struggle with wild beasts. This instance can be viewed as
importance given to deified heroes in the society.

22. • The fight between humans and animals is also shown on a terracotta tabletfrom
Harappa.
• A female figurine standing on an elephant holding two felines is shown on one side while
the other side depicts the killing of a water buffalo. Possibly a man, with hair tied in a
bun on the back of the head, impales a water buffalo with a barbed spear. The man’s
foot presses down the water buffalo’s head as he thrusts the spear into its shoulder.
• In later Hindu rituals, the water buffalo sacrifice is associated with the worship of Durga.
• A crocodile is represented above the head of the hunter. On this seal, the sacrifice takes
place in the presence of a priest or deity seated in yogic position. The seated figure
wears horned headdress and bangles.

23. • A seal from Mohenjo Daro popularly known as the
Pasupati seal is engraved with a three headed deity
wearing a buffalo horned headdress with a fan like
central feature. He is seated in padmasana on a low-
footed stool below which two gazelles (one is broken)
are looking up. Seven designs in the form of ‘V’ are
drawn on his headgear.
• The ithyphallic figure is represented with bangles,
wristlets and a series of graduated necklaces.
• On his right side, there is the representation of
buffalo and rhinoceros and on the left side a tiger and
an elephant is engraved.
• Many scholars traced its connection to vedic religion.
This seated figure has been referred to as “Proto
Shiva” because of its similarity to later iconography of
the deity Shiva from Hindu religion.

24. Square seal depicting a nude male deity with three faces,
seated in yogic position on a throne, wearing bangles on
both arms and an elaborate headdress. Five symbols of
the Indus script appear on either side of the headdress
which is made of two outward projecting buffalo style
curved horns, with two upward projecting points. A single
branch with three pipal leaves rises from the middle of
the headdress.

25. • Another terracotta tablet discovered from
Harappa has depiction of a drummer facing a
tiger on one side and another side has Indus
script and five swastika motifs.
• In India, even today drummer plays a major role
in the rituals associated with Hindu religion.
• Another tablet from Harappa shows a deity in a
sacred pipal tree with plumed headgear and
bangles on each hand. The sacred pipal tree is
interpreted as symbolic representation of a
temple.
• A different seal representing female horned
figurine attacking male horned tiger is interpreted
as the Shakta (male principle) and Shakti (female
principle) concept of Hindusim.

26. • A seal from Dholavira representing a horne
deity standing erect between two branches
of a tree each with three leaves on outer
side can be connected to Hindu rituals. The
seal also depict a devotee kneeling with
bent right leg and left leg being drawn at the
knee and the hands touching the ground
before the deity. Lower portion of the seal
have depiction of a standing goat facing the
deity with outstretched wavy horns and
upturned tail.

27. • Horned Yogi seals from Harappa with leaf
headdress, bangles, multiple faces and
long hair are also attributed to Hinduism.
• Horned anthropomorph depiction on a
terracotta triangular cake from Kalibangan
is also connected to Hinduism.
• A number of steatite seals and terracotta
tablets from various Indus sites depict the
scene showing a tiger looking back over
shoulder at a person sitting on the branch
of a tree may have some religious
significance.

28. Omphalos, Phallus and Vulva
• Though a large number of phallic objects were reported from sites of
the Indus Civilization, only a few were properly carved to suggest the
male organ.
• The vulvas are the symbolic representation of females.
• Omphalos or navel stones are plain column stones with flat bottom
and a curved top and shaped like the Phallus but lacked the
anatomical details.
• Possehl states that large phallic objects were meant for worship and
the smaller ones were used as amulets.

30. Zoolatry
• Many scholars believe that animal worship was prevalent in the Indus
Civilization. Pots from Kot Diji, Rehman Dheri and Padri have
representation of a horned figurine (buffalo head) with somewhat
similar human face. They probably worshipped bulls and unicorns as
indicated by their depiction on seals. Many portrayals of composite
animals (some with three heads) were also reported from various
sites. Tigers with horns, unicorns with elephant trunk and unicorns
growing out of trees are some among them. The unicorn mainly seen
on the stamp seals may have been a mythical animal rather than a
bull.

32. Bhirrana
Dholavira

34. Dendrolatry
• Plants were perhaps regarded sacred. Humans, monitoring the
growth and death of trees, the sensitivity and annual decay and
revival of their foliage, the elasticity of their branches, see them as
powerful symbols of growth, decay and resurrection. Various seals,
tablets and pottery depicting Pipal tree, banyan tree and acacia tree
were reported from many sites of Indus Civilization. Sometimes they
were shown in association with horned deities, composite animals
and unicorn.

35. Standardization of pottery
Harappan

36. A Harappan S-shaped jar

37. Paintings on Harappan
pottery

38. Sacred Motifs and Symbols
• The endless-knot motif found on copper
tablets and seals at Mohenjo Daro may
have been a symbol of specific cult or
community. In the rangoli paintings, this
motif is still popular in the Central
Himalayas. The intersecting circle, fish-
scale design, hatched triangle,
checkerboard design and the circle-and-
dot motif are the commonly occurring
geometric motifs on pottery. Many of
these designs are replicated on seals, in
shell inlay or carved on ivory gaming
pieces and even on bathtubs or tiles.

39. Mohenjodaro (2500 B.C.) Fatehpur Sikri (1569-1584 A.D.)

40. • Swastika which marks the good
beginning in Hinduism and Jainism is a
common symbol of the iconography of
the Indus Civilization occurring mainly
on seals and sealings and sometimes
together with other Indus religious
themes.

41. Fire Altars
• Pits filled with ash, bones and other
debris from Harappan sites like
Lothal, Rangpur, Vagad, Nageshwar
and Kalibangan are identified as fire
altars. Although, majority of the
structures identified as fire altars
clearly show that they were used as
hearths and kilns. Some of the
structures made out of mud bricks
are also identified as fire altars.

42. Water Ablution
• The bathing facilities in the houses indicate that washing and
cleanliness were imperative to the Indus people. G.L. Possehl suggests
that this involved both physical cleanliness as well as something of a
more symbolic nature.
• The Great Bath of Mohenjo-daro indicate the importance of
ablutionary rituals in Indus Civilization.

43. Mohenjo-daro – Great Bath

45. Thank You
Any Questions?