Languages & Organized Religion
Religion
- Who/what they worshiped is uncertain because we haven't been able to translate the Indus Valley script. We can infer from the statues and drawings that their religion may have been polytheistic. The Indus Valley was a polytheistic religion, which means they worshiped more than one god.
- The Indus people probably worshiped Mother Goddess symbolizing fertility, in addition to male and female deities. She was seen as the source of all creation. The people also worshiped Lord Shiva who is the Lord of the Beast (Pashupati). The worship of mythical animals is evident from the existence of a human figure with animal properties.
- Many Indus seals show pictures of gods, which indicates how important religion was to them. Plants, trees, and animals are also featured. These people also worshiped the Sun, the Fire and the Water. The worship of trees was widespread. The Pipal tree was considered most sacred.
- Water ceremonies suggest that water was an important part of Indus religion. The great bath of Mohenjo-Daro, is where people might have taken purification baths or participated collectively in some kind of ritual baths on important occasions.
- Some Indus Valley seals show swastikas, which are also found in Hinduism and other religions such as Buddhism and Jainism. Swastikas were sacred symbol for good luck
- Many historians believe that the religious beliefs of the Indus Valley people was the beginning of modern day Hinduism. Just like Hinduism, Indus Valley people believed in the worship of Shiva, certain animals and trees among many other deities.
- The discovery of amulets suggests that the Indus valley people had belief in magic and charms.
- In the grave sites in Harappa, Lothal, and Kalibangan, bodies have been found buried with pottery and other personal items. This suggests that the the Indus people believed in an afterlife.
- They disposed of their dead either by burial or by cremation. When they cremated the dead, they preserved the ashes of the bodies in clay urns, because they believed the gods would take the ashes to heaven.
- The Indus Valley civilization was literate -- we know this from seals inscribed with a script
- Currently, we are unable to translate the Indus Valley script but we can assume what the words with pictures on the seals
- The seals consisted of very short and brief texts. The average number of symbols on the seals is 5, and the longest is only 26.