Religious Life of the Indus Civilization

The religious life of the Indus Civilization, an ancient and mysterious culture that flourished on the Indian subcontinent around 2500–1500 BCE, is a subject of fascination and intrigue. This civilization left behind a wealth of archaeological evidence that offers insights into their spiritual practices. While deciphering their exact religious beliefs remains challenging, scholars have uncovered various clues.

Indus seals and artifacts depict symbols, perhaps representing deities or religious motifs. The meaning of water-related imagery suggests a reverence for water resources, perhaps implying a water-centered faith. Ritual baths or purification rituals may have been an integral part of their religious life.

The absence of monumental temples raises questions about their worship practices, leading some to believe that the religion was decentralized or focused on domestic rituals. Animal figurines and terracotta images suggest a connection with nature and possibly animistic beliefs.

In short, the religious life of the Indus civilization remains a puzzle with hints of water reverence, nature worship, and possible decentralized rituals. Uncovering the secrets of their faith continues to fascinate researchers and enthusiasts alike.

Religious Life of the Indus Civilization

Introduction: Religious life of the Indus civilization

Our information about the religious life of the Harappans is very scanty and circumstantial, coming only from seals, seal impressions, terracotta and metal figures, cemeteries, etc. Apart from the discovery of fire altars at Kalibangan, we have not found any cult objects, temples, or places of worship at any of the Harappan sites. Based on our partial knowledge, we can say that the Harappan people had many features of later Hinduism, like worship of the Mother Goddess, Pashupati Shiva, sacred animals, trees, etc. Here, we can only refer to a few prominent religious beliefs of the Harappan people.

Mother Goddess

First in order of importance is the cult of the mother goddess. A number of figurines in terracotta, faience, etc. depict a standing and semi-spiritual female figure with a girdle or girdle around the loins, elaborate headgear, and collar, occasionally with decorative cheek cones and necklaces; sometimes the ear ornaments are like caps hung on both sides of the head. Some of the figures are smudged with smoke, and it is possible that oil or perhaps incense was lit in front of them so that the goddess might hear the plea favorably. Figurines similar to those in the Indus Valley have also been discovered in many West Asian countries. These figures are rightly considered to represent the Mother or Goddess of Nature.

Pashupati Shiva

(a) Among the male gods, the most notable is a three-faced deity in a horned headdress, seated cross-legged on a throne and surrounded by an elephant, a tiger, a buffalo, and a rhinoceros, while deer appear below the seat. It has several handles and a breastplate around its neck, and an inscription with seven letters appears at the top. This representation has at least three terms that are usually associated with Shiva, namely that he is (i) Trimukha (three-faced), (ii) Pashupati (lord of animals), and (iii) Yogisvara or Mahayogi. The first two aspects are evident from the seal itself. The deity is seated cross-legged in the padmasana posture with his eyes turned towards the tip of his nose, indicating the Yogisvara aspect of the deity. In the course of further excavations, two more seals of Shiva were found. The deity is always naked except for a cutout around the waist and wears a horned headdress. Marshall boldly called it Proto-Shiva, who is, in his most important aspect, the fertility deity known as Pashupati, the Lord of beasts and beasts.

(b) However, this identification has been challenged by H. P. Sullivan, who has re-examined some of the important material symbols on which Marshall based his hypotheses. Sullivan attempted to show that the deity identified by Marshall as male is actually a female deity and is most likely the Great Goddess. Recently, M. K. Dhavalikar and Atre have also tried to show that the depiction in question is “Lady of the Beasts” and not “Lord of the Beasts”. However, most scholars believe what Marshall stated.

(c) The discovery of certain mysterious objects at Mohenjodar during John Marshall’s excavations gave rise to speculations regarding phallic (lingam) worship in the Indus Valley civilization. During his excavations, Marshall discovered several conical and cylindrical stones, which he concluded to have been phallic worship, and provided the prototype for the phallic (lingam) aspect of Shiva as known in later Hinduism. Similarly, based on the discovery of small ring stones, Marshall proposed them as representations of the female generative organ (yoni) and thus the worship of the mother goddess principle. However, excavations at Kot Diji, Amri, Balakot, and Kalibangan have not produced any new conclusive evidence for linga or yoni worship. George F. Dales completely rejected Marshall’s views in this regard, saying: “There is no archaeological evidence to support the claim of special sexually oriented aspects of Harappan religion.” Sullivan also questioned the argument for a prototype Shiva cult, believing that the association of the linga with Rudra-Shiva appears relatively late in the development of the cult. The oldest known Shiva lingas—one found at Gudimallam and the other at Bhita—date from the first century BC.

Animal worship

That animal worship or zoolatry formed part of the religious faith of the people is indicated by the depictions of animals on seals and seals or in terracotta, faience, and stone figurines. The animals fall into three groups:

(i) mythical animals, e.g., a created half-human half-bovine attacking a horned tiger resembling Eabani or Enkidu in Sumerian mythology, or complex animals, with the heads of various animals attached to a central boss, which may be an attempt to combine the representations of various deities;

(ii) ambiguous animals that are not entirely mythical, such as a strange unicorn, accompanied by a manager or a censer, or animals that figure as officials. The frequency with which the unicorn appears was taken as a sign that it was the tutelary deity of the city;

(iii) real animals, including rhinoceros, bison, tiger, elephant, buffalo, humped bull or zebra, shorthorn bull, etc. The feeding troughs that appeared in front of some of them were considered symbolic offerings of food to animals that could not be domesticated, which referred to animals as objects of worship. The most common animal found on Harappan seals is the bull, which is usually depicted with one horn and is often referred to as a unicorn. The cow, so revered in later Hinduism, is nowhere depicted.

Tree worship

Worship of trees, fire, and water also seems to have been in vogue. The existence of tree worship is evidenced by depictions of several seals. The most interesting of these depicts a three-horned deity standing naked with long hair between two branches of a tree with a half-kneeling figure of a worshiper with long hair, bracelets, and horns, behind which is a folded animal; in the lower register, seven standing figures with knee-length dresses appear in procession. The leaves of the tree look like pipal leaves. Some seals from Harappa show trees enclosed by a wall or railing. At present it is impossible to say whether the worship of trees concerned the trees in their natural state or their indwelling spirits.

Amulets and talismans

The seal depicts a six-rayed motif, which may represent the Sun. Clay models of oxen were used as votive offerings. Some clay and copper plates were used as amulets, and the swastika and cross signs were harbingers of good luck. The heart-shaped shell was probably used as a talisman. The seal depicts a ceremonial dance: a woman dancing in front of the urus bull. Daya Ram Sahni, who discovered the famous dancing girl, associates her with the devadasis attached to the temples.

Worship associated with fire

• (a) A series of ‘fire altars’ on adobe platforms were discovered from the excavations at Kalibangan. The “altars” were actually pits lined with clay, each measuring about 75 x 55 cm. Inside stood a central stele made of clay, sometimes fired, about 30–40 cm high. Around her lay circular biconvex “cakes” of clay, as if placed as offerings. The presence of ash and charcoal testified to its association with fire. Another interesting feature was that these altars were placed in such a way that everyone performing the service had to face the east. Another notable point about them was their association with a well, indicating that anyone offering worship had to take a ritual bath. To the east of the lower city was a small mound that contained nothing but the remains of fire altars. It would seem that the fire altars of the individual houses in the lower city were intended for private use, while the fire altars in the citadel were intended for community worship.
• (b) At Banawali there was not only a fire-altar in the habitation area, but the area around it was found enclosed by a wall which formed an apse at one end. The complex is believed to have been an apsidal “temple”. Whether it was a temple or not, it is quite clear that the fire altar ritual was also practiced by the Banawalians. Lothal also provided ample evidence of fire altars. In addition to being rectangular in shape, as at Kalibangan, the Lothal examples were also circular. For other sites excavated by S. R. Rao in Gujarat, see Rangpur, he refers to “some indications of a ritual involving domestic fire worship during the occupation”. The object associated with the unicorn was identified by Dhavalikar and Atre as some kind of huge but portable “fire altar”, probably made of copper or bronze or even some precious metals. Two Harappan seals show this object being carried in a procession.
• (c) Bovine bones and antlers representing some kind of animal sacrifice were found on the fire altar at Kalibangan. That animal sacrifice was a Harappan practice is also indicated by certain seals discovered in Mohenjodaro and Kalibangan. In Lothal, in a house in the maturity phase, he came across a mud platform with a mud brick cover. In this enclosure lay charred fragments of beef bones, a carnelian bead, and a disc-shaped pendant of gold, besides much ash and charcoal. The excavator, therefore, claims that “the platform must have been used as a sacrificial altar and the adobe enclosure as a sacrificial pit”. This practice is confirmed by carvings on a terracotta cake from Kalibangan. On one side, an animal is depicted with a noose around its neck, the rope being manipulated by a person in front of it in an attempt to stretch it forward. On the other side of the cake is a figure in a horned and feathered headdress. On this basis, it is very likely that the carved figure was a deity to whom the animal was to be offered as a sacrifice.

Funeral customs

• (a) Like religion, distinct features are present in burial practices. From Mortimer Wheeler’s discovery of a cemetery containing at least 67 graves at Harappa, burial appears to have been a common ritual. However, burial practices varied from place to place.
• (b) Three forms of burials have been found at Mohenjodar, namely full burials, partial burials, and post-cremation burials. Full burial refers to the burial of the whole body, ceremonially performed in various forms, together with grave goods, offerings, etc. About 30 skeletons have been found in various groups, attesting to full burials. Some of them seem to have been victims of accidental deaths. All these burials appear to be related to the waning years of Mohenjodar, based on stratigraphic evidence.
• (c) A partial burial represents the assemblage of some bones after exposure of the body to wild beasts and birds. Five such burials have been found, the best specimen being an urn containing a skull and several bone fragments, along with a number of clay vessels and a number of small objects, including beads, beads, shells, pieces of ivory, and miniature vessels. Human bones are not found in all specimens, probably because after exposure the bones were ground into dust before internment.
• (d) Post-cremation burials were derived from large wide-mouthed urns containing a number of smaller vessels, bones of animals such as lambs, goats, etc., birds or fish, and various small objects such as beads. , bracelets, figurines, etc. sometimes mixed with charcoal ash. These are usually located under the floor or street. Human bones are rarely found because bones are hardly necessary for post-cremation burials. Cemeteries at different Harappan settlements were also not located in the same places with different burial customs.
• (e) Three types of burial practices are recorded at Kalibangan: (i) extended inhumation in rectangular or oval graves containing pottery and other grave goods; (ii) a pot burial in a circular pit containing, in addition to the central urn, other pots and grave goods such as beads, etc.; (iii) pottery deposits in rectangular or oval graves. Two types of burial practices were followed in Lothal. While one type contained a single skeleton in addition to grave goods, the other contained two skeletons buried together.

Conclusion

The Indus Valley Civilization, which occurred mainly during the Bronze Age, from 3300 BC to 1300 BC, underwent drastic and unique changes over time. Religion had one major influence on this, especially the domestication of animals and plants, which left a big impact on civilization, leaving us with a huge number of different religions going on at the time. Especially since it covered a large area in Asia, there should be different ideologies and some minor changes in religion in this era. From the Neolithic culture religion that consisted of cults, rituals, and religious concepts, the ideology of domestication of plants and animals, and its belief in nature, we have seen a connection with other religions: the worship of Pashupati, who is believed to be the reincarnation of Lord Shiva, the lord of animals. Then we see the worship of trees and snakes. Yet the worship of Linga and Yoni is still a mystery even today, although evidence has been found in some places, according to some archaeologists.

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