The Real History of India – Part 5: IVC Religion & the Proto-Trinity
TweetProlog:
When I started on this journey, i first looked at the Aryan Invasion Theory debates and had come across the Kurgan Hypothesis from Marija Gimbutas, a brilliant Anthropologist from Lithuania. As you know, i later switched strategies to look at the entire Neolithic plate and its mother goddess religion. Over the past few weeks, i have formed a hypothesis. When I was testing it, i again came across Gimbutas – and found that she had forecasted that the entire world was following the mother goddess culture. She added that the world was matristic initially and later changed to a patriarchal setup via the Kurgan Expansion. You can read her interview that throws some light on this.
This matristic-patriarchal aspect of Gimbutas’s theory was pilloried by critics and i think it also indirectly reduced the credibility of her Kurgan Hypothesis. I think that Gimbutas was right in guessing that the whole world was following the same religion in the Bronze Age. I agree with her on the broader principles, but i think she made some critical errors in assuming it was matristic.
At Priya Raju’s constant goading, i started reading Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code. My hypothesis about the religion was formulated before i started reading this book. So any similarities you see are accidental and may serve to corroborate my hypothesis.
Astronomical Foundation – Solar with a Lunar Twist
Symbologically speaking, IVC denizens believed that the Sun, Earth and Moon were 3 equal parties in the functioning of the world as they knew it – the proto-trinity. Additionally, they also believed that the Earth was the one that was providing the energy to both the Sun and the Moon.
As i have mentioned before, these people had phenomenal powers of observation. They must have observed and calculated the day lengths and figured out that there are 4 equinoctial points – vernal and autumnal equinoxes, summer and winter solstices.
Next they partitioned the 360 degree sky into twelve 30 degree parts to arrive at the 12 zodiacs. Based on where the sun rises in the horizon, they assigned the sun rise to the various zodiacs throughout the year.
Next they looked at the moon and figured out that it revolves around the earth in a 27 day cycle (modern calculations put it at 27.3 days!). They assigned a star to each of the days of the moon there by giving rise to the 27 star system. From a symbology perspective, they thought that the Sun and the Moon were competing for their energy from the earth. When the winter solstice occurs (Uttarayana Punyakalam starts), they deemed it as victory for the Sun and this cycle lasts for 6 months till the summer solstice. At the summer solstice (Dakshninayana Punyakalam), the Moon is said to have won the contest and the Moon’s 6 month cycle continues till the next winter solstice.
The next piece of symbology is in the regular monthly cycle, the moon wins during the waxing phase and loses during the waning phase.
Therefore each day in the calendar was marked with the cycle (sun or moon), the zodiac, the month and the day marked by the phase of the moon and the star associated with it.
Tamils follow to this day the same calendar as outlined in their Panchank (Almanac). My research shows that Keralites, Bengalis, Punjabis also follow a similar calendar framework. [Citation Needed]
Flora & Fauna’s Impact
As we all know by now, Cows and Bulls were extremely important for the IVC people. The Bull symbol was assigned to the Sun – the Uber-Father God. The Cow symbol was assigned to the Earth – Uber Mother Goddess. It is not clear to me what symbol was assigned to the moon, but my guess is that they assigned a Goat (Ram). BTW, the Egyptians also equated cows with their mother goddess (Goddess Hathor).
Trees were very holy for them symbologically because, its roots connect it to the earth (mother goddess) and the top foliage connects it to the sky – and by extension, to the sun during the day & the moon during the night. Trees also bear fruits and seeds which indicate growth and fertility.
At this point, i recalled the Egyptian “Crown” Symbology – the type of crown the gods wear shows if they are from lower or upper Egypt. They controlled both parts if they wore both types of crowns.
Now when i looked at the 3-horned mother goddess, things fell into place. The 3rd horn in the middle is usually a branch of a tree & it signifies the Mother Goddess – Earth – Parvati. She was also known as Durga in Bengal. For some reason they also thought that the mother goddess was from a mountain. Ninhursag, the Sumerian Mother Goddess is supposed to be from a mountian as well.
Now when you go back and look at the peepul tree worship seal, you will see the 3-horned symbology with the middle horn shown as a branch of a tree.
Let us consider the Bull. It also has 2 horns, and we already know that the Lingam is a phallic symbol. If you now look at the 3-horned male god’s crown, you will notice that the middle horn is a phallic symbol and that represents the Father God – Sun – Shiva. In a later post, I’ll explain why I think this is a phallic symbol and why we worship it.
Now that we have established the premises for Mother, Father & the IVC Almanac, it must be now clear to you that the Uber Son is – the Moon. Also known as Murugan (Karthik in Bengal).
This Sun, Earth, Moon is the Proto-Trinity which is a concept that was later incorporated into Vedic Hinduism and Christianity as well [Father, Son and the Holy Spirit]. I’m not saying that IVC loaned the concept to Christianity. What I mean is, Christianity adopted a concept that was prevalent in Neolithic societies.
Let us review parallels from the reference cultures – Sumer started with a pantheistic religion and later moved to the Trinity – Utu (Sun), Ninhursag (Earth) and Sin (Moon). Egypt moved to the Theban Triad during later Middle Kingdom and the start of New Kingdom – Amun (Sun), Maat (Earth) & Khunsu (Moon).
I believe the Minoans had the same triad, but I couldn’t get the name of the Moon god – the male god was called Cernunnos and the female god was Potnia Theron (both are greekified names of Celtic and Minoan gods). Notice that Potnia is known as the Mistress of Animals. Please note that this concept is present in IVC also. In order to understand that symbology, i had to consult Desmond Morris’s brilliant work – “Animal Watching”. I will explain this in later posts.
Now going back to astronomy, they assigned the Bull Zodiac (“Taurus”) to the point at which the Sun rises during the Vernal Equinox. It also marked the New Year – the agricultural season. Pleaides are a part of Taurus. Due to precession, the vernal equinox now falls in March. But since the Tamils place a premium on “Taurus”, their new year still occurs on April 14.
Festival Framework
There are 4 major festivals coinciding with the 4 equinoctial points (new year coincided with the Vernal Equinox as explained above).
1. New Year – At Vernal Equinox, the agricultural season starts, the fields are ploughed and the seeds are sowed. Here is where their symbology of the Sacred Marriage enters. They analogized the start of a New Yearly cycle with the sexual union of the Sun and Earth.
So the festival celebrated sexual unions. Celts called it the “Beltane Festival” – sometimes also called Corn Prince/Princess Festival. There is evidence to show that real sexual unions took place to symbolize the holy union of the Gods. The Uruk Vase found in Sumer shows the “Akitu” festival; Egyptians celebrated the “Opet” Festival which i wrote about during my visit to Karnak. Minoans must have done it as well, as indicated in the Fresco of the Prince. This is celebrated as “Chithirai Thiruvizha” in South India – Where a sacred marriage takes place in madurai between Meenakshi (Parvathi) and Sundareswarar (Shiva). I guess over time the sexual union was converted to a wedding, which is more palatable to our prudery!
The festival of colors must have also happened duing this time with the associated drinking of the Bhang. I believe the IVC people had the Bhang as well. This will be covered later. Holi is today celebrated during the Vernal Equinox – which as we saw occurs in March due to precession. During the IVC days, it would have fallen in April alongside the new year. Even today, the sexual undertones of Holi can’t be missed.
2. Winter Solstice – this is the festival of Suriya Pongal, which marks the Victory of the Sun over the Moon. Bull leaping was done during this festival. As we saw previously, Minoans did the Bull Leaping too.
The above 2 are the only Tamil festivals i knew before i did this research.
3. Summer Solstice – this marks the start of the victory cycle of the moon, and there are festivals that celebrate this. Please delve into your backgrounds and see what your families celebrate during this time. I was able to predict the existence of this festival and I managed to find the Tamil festival celebrated around the Summer Solstice 🙂
4. Autumnal Equinox – this marks the culmination of the victory of the moon, over the evil forces. Again, dig deep into your backgrounds to figure out which Indian festival would be an ideal candidate for this equinoctical celebration.
Let me give you another insight into the minds of these people. Right after the Winter Solstice (Pongal in the month of “Thai”) – “Thai Poosam” which marks the birth of Muruga under the “Poosam” star is celebrated. Star Poosam is the 6th star from Karthikai (the Krithika goddess) – this is to accommodate the 6 pleaides stars [Citation needed]. Interestingly, “Thai” is the 10th month from “Chithirai” when the Holy Sexual Union takes place – They even made sure the gestation period was taken into account!
The celts had smaller festivals during what are known as cross-quarter days or mid-equinoctial points. I have not come across any festivals in India that coincide with this. If you think otherwise, please let me know. Do remember that the equinoctial points mark the quarters of the year.
Epilog:
Gimbutas had correctly predicted that the mother goddess woship was common. As you can see, the Neolithic people actually went a few steps ahead of that to create a religion that was egalitarian – with male, female and child having equal dominance to create the world’s First Trinity. Since the Sumerians and even the later Babylonians followed a Lunar Calendar, i think the IVC people are the first to originate a complex solar calendar system with a lunar twist. Egyptians did use a Solar Calendar, but i don’t think they superimposed the star system on it.
Some more puzzles for you to crack:
1. Who is the snake goddess in Tamilnadu (may have local variants in each region, i think) and why do we worship the snake goddess?
2. What was the real original name of Siva? [Shiva is the Aryanized name of Siva]
3. How did the Vedic Trinity – Shiva, Brahma, Vishnu replace the IVC Trinity?
4. How was the Muruga Symbology constructed? I believe it indicates a balance of both feminine and masculine symbols.
5. What was the Indus script element that signifies the Sun and Moon halves of the year?
Karthik,
Perhaps i didn’t explain correctly. Here is my hypothesis again – they first fixed the trinity to be the sun, earth and moon. Because their astronomical calculations indicated that it is the position of the earth that determined the equinoxes and solstices and the eclipses, they concluded that the earth is the energy giver or shakti and the sun and moon are recipients of the energy. That means that the sun and moon have to be males because they don’t have shakti. And from the brightness of the moon compared to the sun, they must have figured it is a smaller sun and they have given the male symbol to the sun which means the moon has to be a smaller male symbol not a female. If the moon is a female then their model of earth being the shakti won’t fit. They will have to reconcile two shakti givers in the trinity. Hope that helps.
I have the tendency to go overboard with theories based on fragmented pieces of information, so here goes. It is my view that Aryans, Persians & Mittani came frm the same breed in the Andronovo culture. They brought the chariots to the rest of the world. There is a religious connect between the three, Indra & Varuna were venerated by Aryans (as seen in Rig Veda), Wiki tells me Ahura Mazda could be based on Asura Varuna & then there is Mittani-Hittite agreement invoking Indra & Varuna. For reasons of their own they chose to settle separately in IVC, Iran & Iraq (Cud be religious again a theory Aryans were pro Deva, Persians were pro Asura while Mittani took the middle path). But, IVC already had an existing community and Aryans may not have had a smooth migration. The main deity of IVC was Siva and they were led by king who were strong Siva devotees (Cud be Ravana or Mahabali). They may have been overcome by followers of a minor God Vishnu, but for most part the two races may have co-existed peacefully.
Like I said, I do have a tendency to come up with odd theories. And thanks for linking Trinity with Sun, Moon & Earth. It had never occurred to me. 🙂
ciao
Arby,
Thanks for the comment. I agree with you on the Aryan origin. Please read my post
http://www.sastwingees.org/2008/03/01/the-real-history-of-india-part-7-chariots-horses-and-thunderbolts/
for more info.
Yes, IVC was a Siva/Sakthi/Murugan worshipping culture. Aryans amalgamated their religion with the IVC to create a new trinity Siva/Vishnu/Brahma (And if you read my post on Aryan Invasion Theory
http://www.sastwingees.org/2008/02/24/the-real-history-of-india-part-6-aryan-invasion-theory/
– you will see that Siva and Brahma are non-existent in the Vedas and Vishnu is a minor god).
Peaceful coexistence? Not sure if it was peaceful always. There were some violent skirmishes. But later it appears most of the IVC people had to take the lower parts of the society’s hierarchy with the Aryans taking the top tiers.
@Sukumar : I did read the other two links, though I had inferred the same earlier.
What I meant to convey was that the coexistence may not have been entirely peaceful. There may have been few skirmishes and it may have been during these that the relevance of Vishnu came up. Ravana (or Mahabali, though I am not sure if he was a Shiva worshipper) might have been IVC kings and could have been defeated by followers of Vishnu, thereby bringing Vishnu to the forefront.
But to a larger extend, the coexistence could have been peaceful, since the IVC deity was adopted by them. If Aryans were the stronger oppressers, then they could have very well continued on with their religions. Since it is not the case, I am assuming there was cooperation between the two. The social hierarchy may have evolved later on (For example, the bulk of the IVC could have migrated south, while few remained north and a social wall could have developed), but I consider the realignment of the religion to have been as a result of cooperation rather than war.
If the Aryans were the winners, they could have continued on without adopting IVC deities. We have the examples of Mittani (arguably) and the Arian Visigoths who continued on as rulers of people who had different faith. Again, it is just a theory that I won’t be able to support at this point.
Arby K – Here’s what I think. We should bear in mind that we don’t know when the amalgamation of the religions happened. The Aryans could have oppressed the IVC people, then over a period of time peace could have prevailed.
The Salwar Kameez is the preferred dress of the Indian woman now. A dress that was introduced by Muslim/Mughal invaders. The invasions were not really peaceful, were they? Likewise, the Muslim women wear sarees during special occasions. The Hindus & Muslims battled violently for many centuries, before an uneasy truce was called.
Most White Americans listen to Hip-Hop now & try to be cool like the African Americans. But, these 2 races have a very bitter history. Just because Justin Timberlake sings with Dr Dre, we can’t think the relationship between Blacks & Whites in America was relatively peaceful.
After a while, everything settles down. Then, people adopt practices that they like from other communities. That’s no indication of an amicable past.
@Priya : Granted. As I said, I was not saying my view had to be the correct one.
If it was the other way arnd, as in the period of peace (after maybe an initial skirmish) was earlier and the period of oppression later, by the time Mauryas and Asoka (or Bimbisara and Ajatashatru) came around the religion could have developed into a more stable form.
But maybe that much time is not needed, either. My knowledge of India history prior 350 BC is not that strong to make a comment on either possibility.
The new discoveries in archeology like discovery of dholavira, had made the pre-existing history books in to obsolete.. Added to that, ISRO’s detailed research in to the dried up Saraswati river, using satellite imagery and ground water analysis along the river bed, had proved the existence of once mighty saraswati river, beyond doubt.. the number of archeological settlements is concentrated along this dried river bed..
This 2ndlook article, details the various progress made in this saraswathi riverince civilization (Formerly called the IVC)..
On the sands of saraswati
When this new evidence is further analysed, around a million history book lying in 10000 libraries across the world, has to be put to the dust bin..
I wonder, what would the take of sastwingees community on the above article, with extensive reference and links given there..
Can you please provide any research paper published by ISRO in this context. Also whether it has been agreed by larger set of scientists.
If it is true – we have to accept it. When did the community not accept a well researched content. Only if somebody weaves a story based on some myths, we need to consider it with a pinch of salt.
BTW, do you believe in recreating the river if such thing existed previously. I think that will be a stupidest thing one can do with tax payers money. (of course doing research on Astrology beats everything)
Vamsi,
I did not get the original ISRO paper. But a government press release confirming the research and publication of the findings of ISRO in the article titled “New Findings of the Course of River Sarasvati,” in the Journal of Indian Society of Remote Sensing.
http://pib.nic.in/newsite/erelease.aspx?relid=55044
The above press release was made as a response to a MP’s query in Rajya Sabha.
I hope, you would agree to this official announcement.
Apart from these, various links and references has been given in the 2ndlook article i gave in my last comment.
/** If it is true – we have to accept it. When did the community not accept a well researched content. Only if somebody weaves a story based on some myths, we need to consider it with a pinch of salt.
**/
The history of alexander was based on accounts written 200 years after alexander’s death.. there is no accounts of direct witness available. Yet, the western history is entirely based on this , and so many stories woven as official history..
When we could accept these, without any questioning, why do we see every indian hypothesis with pinch of salt?
/** BTW, do you believe in recreating the river if such thing existed previously. I think that will be a stupidest thing one can do with tax payers money.
**/
The river is already flowing along the same tract, but underground (as stated in ISRO findings).. we may recreate the river or may not .. but we should accept the fact, that the history that existed so far on india and IVC had been made obsolete with these findings.. and that, Indian civilization is a continuation of this saraswati riverine civilization, and that there is no aryan migration as such..
Are we ready to shed off this colonial obsession, and relook in to our history with fresh and open mind? Are we ready to unlearn what we had learnt so far?
Much of the existing history has to be rewritten.. For eg, most of us believe, that kerala is the Chera kingdom.. but i have solid evidence, that it is NOT.. there is clear demarcation b/w chera and chola kingdom near kulithalai and an embankment running up to madurai can be seen even in google maps.. we had travelled along that embankment for around 70 kms and verified.. and the capital of chera is Karur, and there is a vanji amman temple there.. vanji is another name for karur .. today’s kerala is referred as malayalam and kairalam..
Vamsi,
Please look in to the following NASA paper published in their website,..
http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20030016612_2002160026.pdf
An article on sarasvati river is available at page 68 of the above paper by A.K Gupta and J.R Sharma, of Department of Space.
The Dholavira excavations in Gujarat..
http://asi.nic.in/asi_exca_2007_dholavira.asp
there are hundreds of such sites along saraswathi river bed, yet to the excavated.. The dimension of history will definitely change with each discovery..
Infact, these findings will rewrite the entire world history, and that has been the nightmare of the western academic institutions..
Another good article in India-Today..
http://www.india-today.com/itoday/26011998/indus.html
Vamsi,
Although not related directly, the below article in 2ndlook on alexander myth gives a wonderful prespective of alexander and the greek empire, and the utilitarian value of greek’s alexander propoganda..
http://2ndlook.wordpress.com/2008/09/06/the-genesis-of-the-greek-miracle/
Its very interesting to re-read the discussions made around 4 yrs before.. With mounting evidences, new interpretations, perspectives, the gaze is now reversed.. So far, the indian civilizaton has been seen from the perspectives of west, written by western historians.. Now its reversed, and we had started to see the west from Indian Perpsective.. This is what Rajeev Malhotra calls as Purva Paksha.. ie, recognize & understand the opponent, without losing our identity.. He has written a book on this subject called “Being Different”, which details about the two entirely incompatible worlds of west and east.
Pls see the video of his speech during his book release at Arsha vidhya Gurukulam at Anaikatty.. The video is one hour long, and pls see it when you are free..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFmL65VsWdk
One important points that he makes is the Non-Translatable words of Sanskrit, which when done, will totally distort its original meaning.. for eg, the word yagna is different from the translated word “sacrifice”.. so as the word “Atma” is different from “Soul”.. the word yoga is already NOT translatable..
And this point is very important, w.r.t the debate in this post.. Max Muller’s translation of vedas is being quoted as authentic source, and that is where the problem lies.. Rajeev Malhotra explains, how the deeper broad meaning of sanskrit words are NOT translatable, and that’s the reason, English translation of vedas would distort the original meaning a lot..
Like wise he gives some more examples on this aspect..
1. Also, the entire abrahamic religions is based on the “History Centrism”, whereas, the entire eastern set of religions (including Budhism which rejects the concept of Brahman), are NOT so.. which means, the western abrahamic religions cease to exist if their history is denied, whereas eastern religions like Budhism will continue even if the history of budha is denied..
This is one of the major differentiations, that Rajeev Malhotra explains in his book..
2. He counters the false claims of “All religions are same”, and all are one.. In Christianity and other abrahamic religions, even a christian is NOT in oneness with either Jesus or his GOD.. that is not so in eastern religions.. and this single factor itself is enough to disprove this self-deceiting argument of “All religions are same”.. there are many other powerful arguments he gives in his book.
3. He explains about the anxiety about being different from others, which he calls the difference anxiety.. So many people run up to the “all religions are same” argument, because of the fear of difference.. The reality that everyone is unique is NOT being accepted.. We can see this difference anxiety even in many posts of this blog . How many times have we resorted to arguments like “all men are same”, “all women are same”, “men and women are equal” etc.. so the next time, one say these things, pls understand that he/she are expressing a feeling of insecurity, and probably a psychological treatment might be needed 🙂
4. The author brilliantly explains, how Indian Civilization is being digested, through various means. By digesting, he means, taking indian concepts, and fitting them within their western christian framework, and then rejecting all those that does not fit its history centric theory.
More interesting details in the above video i had given.
I dont know if Sukumar still sticks to his hypothesis explained in this post. But with newer understanding over these years, the very fundamentals of the hypothesis are false for the following reasons.
1. The term Religion, with its western origin, is NOT applicable to eastern religions. The term “Matham” is not same as the term “religion”.
2. The meaning of religion is applicable only to abrahamic one, and hence the paganic cultures and cults cannot be termed as religion. With this understanding, the very perspective that IVC (or ISC in my view) did not have any religion at all.
So if we negate the non-existence of religion prior to abrahamic faiths, then we have to have a entirely new perspective of the past.. we have to see the history based on cultures and NOT on religions. And most cultures, due to their absense of any holy books, were open to mutual interaction and learning..