On women and ancient Indian temples.

There are some auspicious symbols in Indian culture, that adorn its ancient temples.  Temples are meant to a beautiful and spiritual place for the community.  Acceptable motifs on the entrance, (not necessarily restricted to it), are creepers, foliage, flowers, Devi such as Ganga and Yamuna (for they bear water and hence cleanse and comfort the dusty and tired visitor), lovers and couples (indicative of fertility) etc.  Young, decorated women figures are used to beautify temple premises as in shalbhanjika (i.e., woman holding tree branches), or as a couple (mother, lover).  Goddess Lakshmi is an auspicious symbol on the temple door jambh (entrance).  Women in Indian culture are considered auspicious for attracting wealth.  Goddess Lakshmi, being a beautiful woman, is the goddess of wealth i.e., creates/ increases wealth in a community.  This is especially true as men desire fertile women, and when men do, they quite invariably end up creating wealth through their labor in the community, so as to sustain the woman they love and likely their offsprings.  In Indian culture, as per the available sculptures, full bodied women, are desired as they are considered beautiful and fertile i.e., they are perfect conduits for attracting wealth in the community in which the women live.  Ancient Buddhist temples are also found decorated with beautiful women/couple figures.  Ancient Indian society, whether Buddhist or Hindu, was a beautiful amalgamation of spirituality and physical desires.

Indian temples in olden days, were self sustaining due to public donations. High emphasis on temple decoration with both religious and non religious sculptures, is a representation of the psyche of the society of its time.  Public donations in a temple were likely to increase if the temple was beautiful and spiritual in the eyes of the public and as per the acceptable social norms should represent society's psyche.  In this sense, temples were indeed a reflection of society.  The ancient Indian society was deeply spiritual at its core and women (through men), were the threads of societal fabric that made the society prosper.  Thus women were held in high esteem.  They still are, in philosophical sense at least.



Appearance of warrior female deities, like Durga, Kali etc seems to be a relatively recent phenomenon.  Why did women deities need to take such violent forms?  Is it in response to the changed attitude of men in society or else to protect the society against external threats or something else?

On Indus Valley Civilization.

I came across an interesting research article on the causes of decline and disappearance of Indus Valley Civilization.  On the outset the reason is climatic alongside biological and social.  The society was discriminated on name less factors and a certain section of society suffered more violence and disease burden and were buried piled up.  The findings, to me, also go on to show that people were not aware that cremation was a better option than burial to contain spread of infectious diseases such as leprosy and tuberculosis.

Anyway.  The link and abstract of the article is posted below:


Read the open-access, full-text article here:
http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0084814

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Infection, Disease, and Biosocial Processes at the End of the Indus Civilization

Abstract:

In the third millennium B.C., the Indus Civilization flourished in northwest India and Pakistan. The late mature phase (2200-1900 B.C.) was characterized by long-distance exchange networks, planned urban settlements, sanitation facilities, standardized weights and measures, and a sphere of influence over 1,000,000 square kilometers of territory. Recent paleoclimate reconstructions from the Beas River Valley demonstrate hydro-climatic stress due to a weakened monsoon system may have impacted urban centers like Harappa by the end of the third millennium B.C. the impact of environmental change was compounded by concurrent disruptions to the regional interaction sphere. Climate, economic, and social changes contributed to the disintegration of this civilization after 1900 B.C. We assess evidence for paleopathology to infer the biological consequences of climate change and socio-economic disruption in the post-urban period at Harappa, one of the largest urban centers in the Indus Civilization. Bioarchaeological evidence demonstrates the prevalence of infection and infectious disease increased through time. Furthermore, the risk for infection and disease was uneven among burial communities. Corresponding mortuary differences suggest that socially and economically marginalized communities were most vulnerable in the context of climate uncertainty at Harappa. Combined with prior evidence for increasing levels of interpersonal violence, our data support a growing pathology of power at Harappa after 2000 B.C. Observations of the intersection between climate change and social processes in proto-historic cities offer valuable lessons about vulnerability, insecurity, and the long-term consequences of short-term strategies for coping with climate change.

Nahargarh Fort, Jaipur.

Nahargarh fort felt like home.  It was a great experience enjoying cup of coffee in the winter sun in the courtyards of one of the restaurants on the fort premises.