Home > History MCQ for Competitive Exams with Answers > The deity shown on a Mohenjodaro seal, with multiple heads, horn-like features, and animals around, is thought to be an early form of which god?
The deity shown on a Mohenjodaro seal, with multiple heads, horn-like features, and animals around, is thought to be an early form of which god?
A
Varuna
B
Indra
C
Vishnu
D
Pashupati
Correct Answer:
D
Pashupati
- At the site of Mohenjodaro, one of the main cities of the Indus Valley civilization (around 2600 - 1900 B.C.E.), a well-known "Pashupati seal" was found.
- The seal depicts a male figure with horns, possibly three faces, seated in a cross-legged yogic position (thought to be the first or earliest instance of meditative posture) and surrounded by various animals including an elephant, a tiger, a rhinoceros, and a buffalo, all with deer located underneath the throne.
- The first person to interpret the figure as a "proto-type of Pashupati" (the "Lord of the Animals"), the name later associated with Shiva in Hinduism, was Sir John Marshall.
- The imagery on the seal indicates possible early ideas of asceticism, fertility, and/or control over nature, and it has been postulated that there may have been a continuous religious concept from the time of the Indus civilization to the time of the Shaivites of modern India.
- The question of whether or not this is a true representation of Pashupati is still hotly debated among historians, because the Indus script is still undeciphered and very few written sources have been found.