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Each culture across the world has a special relationship and affinity with trees. The respect for trees in theIndus civilization goes back to proto-history as is evident in the seals from the Harappan civilization that show a horned deity seated under a Peepal tree.
Worship of Trees
The worship of trees was widespread. The Pipal tree was considered most sacred. One of the seals shows a god standing between the branches of a people tree and the godwas being worshipped by a devotee on his knees.
The discovery of a large number of seals with papal trees engraved on them suggests that this tree was considered sacred.
We see an anthropomorphic deity sitting on a low dais, flanked on either side by a kneeling man and a snake; one of these supplicant men has both his hands raised in worship, while the other is giving what looks like a sacrificial vessel to the deity.
The kneeling worshipper holds out the pot towards a tree. On both tablets the sacrificial vessel looks exactly like the U-formed
Many of statuettes and seals found in
Harappa seals,amulets,and copper tablets depict anumber of trees.The pipal tree appears often, Sometimes there is a figure perering out of the trees, possibly a tree spirit.
1 comment:
I was surprised to see the the image of a 1st. or 2nd. century BC cross legged sitting Celtic mythological deity called "The Horned One" or Cernunnos in your blog on Harappa civilisation (c. 3300 - 1700 BCE). This image is amongst the several mythological and ritual scenes decorated in relief on a silver Cauldron presently displayed at the National Museum of Denmark, though the origin of this amazing scene has not yet been established by the experts. However, now a link between the Indus Valley (IV) and Celtic civilisations has become apparent with the discovery of a silver cylindrical vessel, with almost identical scene, from an IV civilisation settlement in Baluchistan. This vessel is presently displayed at the Arsh gallery, Islamabad.
The major differences between the two scenes are that while the IV deity's right palm is clenched and he holds a hybrid tiger headed serpent with his left hand, the Celtic deity is holding a metal collar or armband in his right hand and a hybrid ram-horned serpent with his left hand.
The hybrid tiger headed mythical serpent depicted on IV artefact combines the strength of the tiger with the reformative powers of the snake, while the ram-horned serpent of the Celtic relic combines the fertility symbolism of the ram with the reformative powers of the snake.
I have been unable to attach the photograph of the
IV artefact. However, my E-mail address is: "chaaps07@Yahoo.com".
Arshad Sadiq
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