Terra-cotta Figurines

Numerous terra-cotta female figurines are known from Harappan sites. Many had panier-shaped headdresses, which may have served as lamps, probably in a sacred context, since some contained traces of a black residue, possibly burned oil. Some figurines at least probably served originally as votive offerings, though the great variety of places in which they have been found suggests that their role in ritual may have been confined to the ceremony in which they were offered and that they were then discarded, to be picked up and played with by children. Some female figures consisted of just a torso to which other features were later added. If the figures were acquired to be used as offerings, the additions may have defined aspects of the deity of particular relevance to the worshipper. Alternatively they may have been used as ex-votos in which the features selected related to the affliction suffered by the person who was making the offering, either in hope of or in gratitude for a cure.

Female figurines had been made by the cultures of the Indo-Iranian borderlands for thousands of years and continued to be popular in later millennia when they are often taken to represent Mother Goddesses. These play an important part in folk religion, being used in rituals connected with mother-hood—to bring about conception, protect in childbirth, or guard the health of children. Some Harappan figurines similarly reflect such preoccupations, with their emphasis on generous breasts and wide hips, and their occasional depiction with a suckling baby. Female figurines are also used in a more general context, to ward off evil spirits and offer protection. However, many female figurines are not of the Mother Goddess type, and the latter have not been found throughout the Harappan realms but come mainly from sites in the Indus valley and the west. It is possible, as Marshall suggested, that these figurines were used as cult images in domestic shrines, though he preferred the idea that they were used as ex-votos. The less common male figures often emphasize the organs of generation, and there were also hermaphrodite figurines.