When archaeologists dug up the ancient, dusty ruins of Mohenjo-Daro (part of the massive Indus Valley Civilization), they discovered thousands of tiny, beautiful stone stamps called 'seals'.
The absolute most famous, mysterious, and highly debated seal ever found in Indian history is the Pashupati Seal (officially named Seal 420).
Discovery Location: Dug up from the massive ruins of Mohenjo-Daro (Sindh, Pakistan) in 1928.
Material: Made of a highly soft, carved stone called 'Steatite'.
Animals Present: Elephant, Tiger, Rhino, Buffalo, and Deer.
Top Script: Above the horned figure's head is a massive line of Harappan pictorial writing, which scientists are still completely unable to read today.
The tiny stone seal perfectly depicts a highly muscular, human-like figure sitting cross-legged in a massive yoga posture on a low platform. The figure has a terrifying, giant three-horned headdress. But the most important part is the massive wild animals violently surrounding him:
In 1931, the famous British archaeologist John Marshall declared this figure to be the 'Proto-Shiva' (the ancient, primitive version of the Hindu God Shiva). He called him 'Pashupati' (The Lord of Animals) because Lord Shiva is heavily worshipped as the protector of wild beasts and the master of Yoga. However, modern historians violently disagree. They aggressively argue that Shiva was not heavily worshipped until the later Vedic period, thousands of years after Mohenjo-Daro was destroyed.
The Harappan people did not have massive paper books. These tiny seals, used to officially stamp wet clay on trade packages, are the absolute only solid evidence we have of what the Indus people believed in, worshipped, and visually feared.
It is a highly famous, ancient stone seal from the Indus Valley Civilization depicting a three-horned yogi figure aggressively surrounded by wild animals.
The seal perfectly features a massive elephant, a roaring tiger, a thick rhinoceros, a water buffalo, and two small deer.
Because the figure is sitting in a strict yoga posture and surrounded by animals, Marshall violently linked it to the Hindu God Shiva, whose title is 'Pashupati' (Lord of all Beasts).
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