most indian cultural and religious traits … con/rigveda/shri vishnu...most indian cultural and...
TRANSCRIPT
MOST INDIAN CULTURAL AND RELIGIOUS TRAITS HAVE THEIR ORIGIN IN THE
INDUS-SARASVATI CIVILIZATION
VISHNU KANTARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF INDIA
It has been advocated by some scholars that the Indus-
Sarasvati (Harappan) Civilization became extant, leaving
nothing behind. While no doubt that, owning to various
reasons, the highly developed Harappan cities disappeared,
the people did not. The succeeding scenario was rural in
nature, However, the people carried on their daily routine as
usual and kept up their cultural and religious traditions.There
is enough evidence to show that both traditions have their
origin in the Indus-Sarasvati Civilization.Few examples are as:
Cultural :Terracottas in yogic asanas,Harappa ;Mohenjodaro
Earliest agricultural field, Kalibangan
The Thirsty Crow -A Story Painting, Lothal
Terracotta greeting with namaste, Harappa
Religious:Siva in the form of linga- cum -yoni, Kalibangan
Fire altars, Kalibangan
Swastika on a seal , Mohenjodaro
T.C.Tablet depicting the Animal sacrifice ,Harappa
For the past four-five decades India has been witnessing whatmay be called a kind of ‘cultural invasion’ from the West. Onesees, for example, in metropolises like Delhi, Mumbai, etc., 20-25-year-young girls clad in jeans and tops (and, of course,boys) haunting disco-clubs and reveling on Valentine days. Ihave no grudge against that. It had to happen because of‘globalization’.
But if we ignore this recent phenomenon and go deeper wecome across what may be called the ‘basal elements’ of Indianculture. These are more manifest in rural areas than in theurban.
Let us have a look at some of these.
Baba Ramdev : A renowned Yoga Teacher, who is famous forpopularizing yoga world-wide through television shows andmass level yoga camps.
Nearly 2,200 years ago, sage Patanjali had codified the Yogasystem. In it he enunciated eight successive steps, viz. yama,niyama, asana, pranayama, pratyahara, dharana, dhyanaand samadhi.
Basically, yoga focuses on detoxification of the body orimprove the functional aspects of the internal organs of thebody while poses (asanas) help to increase the overallstrength and flexibility of the body.
Yoga is an invaluable gift of Indian ancient tradition.Recently, 21st June was officially declared as InternationalYoga Day on the suggestion of Indian Prime Minister ShriNarendra Modi, in U.N. Assembly.
It is a matter of proud for India since our ancient tradition -Yoga has achieved a high stage now.
• In Chapter 6, the Bhagvadgita propounds thetechnique of meditation. It says that the sadhakashould keep his back, neck and head straight andshould fix his gaze on the tip of the nose i.e.,samprekshya nasikagram.
• It would be noted that when the gaze is fixed at thetip of the nose the upper eye-lids droop down a bitand the eyes get more than half closed.
• This is precisely what one sees in the case of thelimestone figure of the priest discovered at Mohenjo-daro (next slide). He is indeed in Dhyana-mudra.
Limestone statue of a ‘priest’ in meditative pose (dhyana-mudra) depicting the half-closed eyes and peaceful face. Overall , it shows Simplicity and Sublimity. Mohenjo-daro. Mature Harappan.
Impression of a seal depicting a seated figure surrounded by animals, believed to be Siva in his aspect of Pasupati (Lord of animals). Mohenjo-daro. Mature Harappan.
,
Terracotta tablet, depicting the Siva-like seated figure and a person attempting to kill a buffalo, perhaps as sacrifice. Harappa, Mature Harappan.
Animal Sacrifice (Bali): is a ritual , killing and offering of an
animal to appease or maintain favour with a divine agency.
Yajurveda mentions about the animal sacrifice of goat, calf, ox,
bull etc. Buffalo sacrifice is still popular in Rajasthan for offering
to Kali, Bhawani or their family devata on Navarati. However,
government has banned it.
Fire Worship: The ceremonial fire or Havan is lit and Agni isinvoked to make it a holy witness of the occasion. Fire isbelieved to be the purifying element in Hindu rites and rituals.So that, the priest or the person offers samagri, ghee and othermaterial into the Agni. The practice of fire worship is stillpopular today in India.
A ‘Fire-Altar’ with a stele and bi-convexcircular cakes and ash; in a house of the Lower Town,
Kalibangan, Mature Harappan
A row of seven ‘fire-altars’ with stele in each , lower part of a pot with full of charcoal and a well on the left , in the southern half of the Citadel, Kalibangan, Mature
Harappan.
Swastika: is commonly used in Hindu art & architecture and is considered to be a very sacred and an auspicious symbol in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. It can be seen on temple, houses and entrance for good fortune, luck and well-being.
Swastika on either side of the
door of a modern house
Swastika on a seal, Mohenjo-daro. Mature Harappan
A modern field with mustard plants in the widely distanced
furrows and those of horse gram in the others
Agriculture in Rajasthan
Rajasthan has two principal crops Rabi and Kharif. RabiCrops are winter crops in which the H. Gram and major oilseed Mustard are sown as multiple crops in the samepattern furrows as found in the earliest ploughed field ofKalibangan.
Possible benefits of multiple cropping of gram & mustard are to:• balance input and outgo of soil nutrients, • restore or maintain soil fertility• keep down weeds and insect pest • suppress plant diseases like gram blight• increase over all productivity
It is noticeable that these benefits were certainly fully or partially under the knowledge of Harappans that’s why they ploughed the field in criss- cross manner.
North Indian wedding traditions include the application of
Vermilion (Sindoor) on the bride’s head by the groom. The ritual has
a deeper symbolic relevance with a charm and appeal. Every married
woman is applied vermilion on the medial line of her hair during their
daily make-up as shown in the photograph.
Terracotta female figures, painted. The yellow colour on ornaments suggests that these were made of gold; the hair is black, while the red
on the line of partition of the hair represents the use of Vermilion,Nausharo Period IB, 2800-2600 BCE.
A married woman wearing ivory
bangles. It is believed that this protects
from evil eyes and also eases birth pain.
The famous
bronze figure of a
‘dancing girl’
wearing spiralled
bangles on the left
arm, Mohenjo-
daro. Mature
Harappan
Spiralled bangles, silver,
Kunal,Early Harappan
A newly married lady, on the right wearing a conical ornament (chauk) on the head (covered by the dupatta). She also wears bangles all over her arms.
Gold cone, Mohenjo-daro, Mature Harappan
Three-in-one toiletry gadget, Copper
Modern Mature Harappan, Harappa
From right : a set consists of a
Toothpick for cleaning detritus between the teeth;
Miniature spoon like object for removing wax from the ear;
Tweezers for plucking unwanted hair from eye & eyebrows
Terracotta gamesmen, Lothal, Mature Harappan
Reconstruction showing the use of gamesmen in chess;
with Lothal gamesmen (left) and modern (right)
Cubical Dice - a throwable object with multiple resting
positions is played for generating random numbers. Dice are
gambling and non-gambling devices. Rig-Veda and Atharva-
veda both mention it as aksa - a gambling object. Its faces are
numbered from 1 to 6 with pips (round dots). The following
three styles of numbering were found at Harappan sites.
1. One opposite six Numbers on each opposite sides
add up to Seven, Dhalewan, &
Harappa,Mature Harappan
Three opposite four
Five opposite two
2. One opposite two A Popular style, Lothal, Harappa,
Mohenjo-daro & Kalibangan,
Mature Harappan
Three opposite four
Five opposite six
3. One opposite two Mohenjo-daro, Kalibangan
Three opposite five
Four opposite six
Excellent story of “The Thirsty
crow”
Line drawing shows a deer, a
pitcher and a crow. The crow
wanted to drink water from the
pitcher but water level in the
pitcher was low.
The crow somehow managed by
inserting small pebbles into the
pitcher and thereby raising water
level to a required height. So that
he drank the water. The deer is
shown watching the event with
full of amazement. Usually ,
grandparents narrate this story to
the children in India.
Painted goblet, Lothal,
Mature Harappan
The former President ,
Shri K.R. Narayanan
(left), being greeted
with namaste by
Bharatratna and the
former PM, Shri Atal
Bihari Vajpayee (right)
and others
A terracotta figurine greeting with
namaste, Harappa, Mature Harappan
Indian Customary Greeting- Namaste