Shrines

The citadel mound at Mohenjo-daro is one of the few places where convincing religious structures have been uncovered. In the northern part of the mound was the Great Bath, and in the south there was a complex of halls and rooms. Some of these were residential but the complex also included one chamber (room 100) to which access was possible only via a long secluded corridor between two blocks, though accessible from both. This contained a sculptured female head and may perhaps have been a shrine. A number of other structures in the complex that may also suggest a religious function include three circular

Brick rings that probably surrounded sacred trees. The main feature of the complex, the pillared hall, is generally considered to have been a place for secular public assemblies, but its use for religious purposes cannot be ruled out.

House 1 in the HR-A area in Mohenjo-daro's Lower Town has been identified as a possible temple. A pair of doorways led from a large open space, probably a courtyard, into two passages, between two separate blocks of rooms that were not accessible from House 1, though they were probably related to it. At the end of the passages was a courtyard containing a brick ring that, like those on the citadel mound, may once have surrounded a sacred tree. From this courtyard two staircases, facing one another, led up to a second, raised courtyard from which opened a number of rooms, some leading into others. It is possible that the visitor followed a circular route, entering through one doorway, taking the corresponding staircase to the upper courtyard, and returning via the other staircase, passage, and doorway.

This complex is unusual in a number of ways, in addition to its unique layout. Nowhere within it was there a well, a real rarity in this city and one that may emphasize a nondomestic role. It contained several pieces of stone sculpture, one just a head, the other a seated man, broken into three pieces: Stone sculpture is extremely rare at Mohenjo-daro and almost unknown in other Harappan settlements. Other objects were not the usual range of domestic utensils: They comprised a large number of seals, all bearing the unicorn motif; many pottery vessels, including a number of miniature pots; terra-cotta figurines; and jewelry; all types of object that might have been offerings. Other explanations are also possible: for example, this could have been an administrative building. A burial was found, beneath the upper courtyard floor, of a man wearing a faience neck ornament and ivory bangles. This burial may have taken place sometime late in the city's history and was perhaps related to an episode in which the statues from the complex were smashed and the pieces scattered in the adjacent area. The building also belonged to a late period of the city's history, having being modified from earlier structures.

Houses XXX, XXIII, and L in the HR-B area and block 8A in the DK-G area at Mohenjo-daro were buildings with massive bases to support superstructures that are now gone, and the incompletely exposed Block 11 in the DK-G area contained three wells approximately in a line. All these are unusual and have therefore been suggested by various scholars as temples, though there is no evidence of ritual practices or objects to support this interpretation. Similar difficulties have been encountered in the attempt to identify Harappan temples in other cities and towns, difficulties compounded by the lack of concrete knowledge of the ritual practices or objects that one would expect to be associated with a Harappan shrine.

Atre (2002) points out the humble appearance of shrines in modern Indian villages, differing little from domestic huts, and it is worth noting that substantial temples do not feature in the early part of India's historical period and that, when rock-cut temples began to appear, the architectural detail shows that they were modeled on wooden structures. Worship was often focused on sacred objects, such as trees, pillars, or relic mounds, sometimes enclosed in shrines. Practices associated with such venues included the offering of fruit, flowers, or other things, as well as walking around the sacred object in a clockwise direction (pradakshina). In addition, religious practices could involve contemplation, or they could involve listening to sermons within a pillared hall. Perhaps, therefore, we should not be looking for temples as such in the Harappan state, or, at least, not for imposing structures.

The Great Bath

The stair from the west ascending to the citadel at Mohenjo-daro had at its summit a bathroom where those entering the area were probably required to purify themselves. Beyond the Granary lay the Great Bath complex: Two doors led through an antechamber into the fenestrated courtyard with, at its center, the Great Bath, a large rectangular basin, carefully constructed so as to be watertight. Steps at each end of the bath led down to a narrow ledge from which the water could be entered.

Most scholars regard this as a religious structure, connected with ritual bathing, which has played an important role in Indian religion for at least two and a half thousand years. The colonnade probably enabled those not permitted to set foot inside the courtyard to observe ceremonies taking place in the Great Bath.

The Great Bath at Mohenjo-daro, looking in from the antechamber to the fenestrated colonnade surrounding the bath, which was undoubtedly a ritual facility. Beyond can be seen the ruins of a residential area with bathrooms, perhaps occupied by priests. (J. M. Kenoyer, Courtesy Department of Archaeology and Museums, Government of Pakistan)

A large well lay to the east of the colonnade, along with a series of bathrooms, presumably for participants to purify themselves before taking part in a ritual. The complex could also be entered from this side and from the north, from the secluded residential area probably housing its staff (presumably priests). The superbly constructed Great Bath was unique and suggests that Mohenjo-daro was the religious center of the Harappan state, if not its political capital too.