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The sixth and, perhaps, last excavation camp at Dholava Veera in
Harappa has unearthed exciting clues to the religious and
ritualistic aspects of the civilisation.
What has excited archaeologists is the discovery last month of a
beautifully carved image which resembles a proto-Shiva figure.
Beautifully carved with emphasis on detailing, this headless
statuette could indicate that some kind of Shiva cult was popular
in those days. Other Harappan sites have uncovered seals with the
figure of the Pashupati, which indicates that Shiva could have been
a deity.
The headless image shows a figure seated with his legs crossed,
with an erect phallus. This last feature, too, could indicate that
some variety of Shaivite religious tradition of worshipping the
linga existed then.
But the head of the image has been forcefully severed and it was
buried upside down with stones around it pressing it into the
ground. "This could indicate that whoever destroyed it had no
respect for the image or these traditions," says Mr R.S. Bisht, the
project director.
Archaeologists have also uncovered an extensive burial ground just
outside the settlement. This February, a complete skeleton was
discovered there.
A study of the material excavated here has proved that the
Harappans of Kutch followed different modes for disposing their
dead, unlike their counterparts in Pakistan (Mohenjodaro and
Harappa) and other parts of north-western India.
The Harappans here buried their dead like the rest of the Harappans
but they also followed cist burial, a practice where the dead were
cremated elsewhere and their ashes buried in the sacred grounds.
Pots containing ashes have been found in the graves.
There are also small pits in the grounds which could have been used
to put away the ashes.
"Skeletons have been found in Kalibangan and Lothal in Gujarat
which have been buried ceremoniously with grave goods. But the
Dhola Veera discoveries show that they followed other funereal
modes too," says Mr Vasant Shinde, archaeologist with the Deccan
College in Pune.
As at the other sites, here too the bodies were buried with grave
goods like pottery, ornaments and weapons. This sepulchral
practice was also common to the Mesopotamian and Egyptian
civilisations. Mr Shinde said this was due to the close cultural
and trading contacts between the various civilisations of the
period.
Grave goods are handy in dating the burials because they show
distinct traits of the period they belong to. Analysis of the
skeletons do not yield calendar dates. The skeleton unearthed at
Dhola Veera is yet to be analysed, but Mr Bisht's hunch is that it
dates back to the Harappan years.
"The burial ground indicates that once Harappans were burying their
dead. but that later for some reason they took to other systems of
disposal too. In the later years, there was no standardisation in
the funereal rites," says Mr Bisht.
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