Paṭṭa-Mahiṣī: Proto-Koṟṟavai goddess in Indus civilization (Banawali and Mohenjadaro)

 The Proto-Koṟṟavai seal, M-312 from  Mohenjadaro is well known [1]. Here, only Proto-Koṟṟavai is a woman while the rest are all men presumably representing the army of the buffalo demon. Another earlier depiction of Proto-Koṟṟavai along with four of the Seven Kaṉṉimār (girls) of the Sapta-Ṛṣi Maṇḍala fighting with a male buffalo is shown from a seal excavated from Banawali, Haryana, India (Fig.1). The girls form Proto-Durgā’s army and, they are also seen in several Indus civilization seals (M-1186, M-442, H-97) as a row in the bottom while the Proto-Koṟṟavai is shown in an arch of the Bodhi (ficus religiosa) ­­tree leaves (Fig. 2). Banawali seal women, part of the Seven Kaṉṉimār (= Sapta Ṛṣi Maṇḍala/Great Bear constellation) wear bangles (conch shell? plant material?). Proto-Koṟṟavai in Banawali seal has the ēka-vēṇī ‘single braid’ of hair thrown to the front just like M-312. Additionally, she sports the cotton cloth decoration tied as a head band which is seen in Kalibangan (Fig. 3) also. This flowing headband decoration indicates the reason for the term, "paṭṭa-mahiṣī" for her and reigning queen in India. paṭṭakkārar, paṭṭavardhan, paṭṭanāyak are common chieftain titles in India.  Often Indus deities, both male and female, wear buffalo horns. The so called “Paśupati”, the great Yogi, seal has an exact equivalent of a crocodile (Makara Viṭaṅkar) surrounded by four wild animals. Hence makara/paśupati is the Pole Star and his wife, Proto-Durga is Rohiṇī in Indus astronomy. “Initially the Early Harappans could orient their towns according to cardinal directions and the sun probably symbolized the king. Their calendar was heliacal with Aldebaran (Rohiṇī) as the new year star. Indus Civilization created the lunisolar calendar, the nakṣatras, started the new year with the Pleiades, used the gnomon, and knew planets (Dravidian names of stars and planets, preserved in Old Tamil, occur in Indus inscriptions).” (A. Parpola, JAOS, 2014). Eventually lunisolar calender was created and utilized circumpolar stars, which made Ursa Major and the pole star ideologically important. 

Depictions of the divine couple, Makara & Koṟṟavai depictions in Art continue up to Megalithic (Iron Age) Tamil Nadu [2]. Pongal (Makara Sankranti) festival celebrations in the farms of Kongu Nadu seem connected with celebration of these deities (cf. Paripāṭal verse 5). Interestingly, only buffalos are shown sacrificed in Proto-Durga seals and zebu bulls are never shown being killed by spears in Indus seals. Also, in the buffalo seals, a crowing rooster/cockerel along with a warrior is shown indicating that buffalo sacrifice was performed for the War goddess, Koṟṟavai. Later, rooster becomes the symbol of the war god, Kārtikeya and also seen in Greek warriors’ shields as chicken went from India to Europe via Persia. Koṟṟavai name itself derives from kol- 'to kill', and Kolli means Koṟṟavai. In Sangam literature, Kolli Hill in Kongu Nadu is the 'kula-parvatam' of Chera kings, and their family deity, Durga (the beguiling kollippāvai) resides there. Chera kings issued coins with legend, Kollippuṟai and Kollirumpuṟai.

 

Fig. 1. Proto-Koṟṟavai vs. Buffalo (a) Mohenjadaro, M-312 (b) Banawali, ASI collection

 

Fig. 2. Mohenjadaro, M-1186: Goddess in the pipal (Bodhi) tree, and Seven Kaṉṉimār 

The West Asian sacrifice of the taurus bull is paralleled in the Indus civilization with the sacrifice of a water buffalo bull by spearing in Indus civilization. The Harappan water buffalo, imported from the Indus Valley, is the counterpart of the West Asian urus bull in the Sargonid “contest” seals, and that the “victor’s pose,” one foot placed on the head of the buffalo, is replicated in Mesopotamia from the Indus Valley sacrifice of the water buffalo in front of the hut-like temples dedicated to the goddess. Mohenjadaro and Banawali seals in Fig.1 show girls with ēka-vēṇī ‘single braid’ hairstyle and wearing skirts. The skirt is also seen in the tiger goddess seal, K-65 from Kalibangan, Rajasthan.

Fig.3. Kalibangan tiger goddess (K-65)

Impression of a Harappan cylinder seal from Kalibangan (K-65). "Two warriors, distinguished by the hair worn in a divided bun at the back of the head, are spearing each other, while they are both being held by the hand by a goddess wearing a head-dress with a long pendant (comparable to the ones decorated with cowry shells and turquoise that are worn by the women of Ladakh and Chitral), bangles on the arms, and a skirt. Next to the combat scene (where space appears to have prevented the depiction of those details), her body merges with that of the tiger (later the Hindu goddess of war) and her head-dress is elaborated with animal horns and a tree branch," A. Parpola, Deciphering the Indus Script, p. 253.

"The Harappans had a goddess of war connected with the tiger, another large feline that was once native to the Indus Valley. On a cylinder seal from Kalibangan (Image 1, 2), a goddess in long skirt and plaited hair holds the hands of two warriors in the process of spearing each other. Next to this scene, the same deity is shown with an elaborate horn crown and the back part of a tiger as a continuation of her body. The hair of the two warriors is arranged into the double bun' or chignon at the back of the head, characteristic of Late Early Dynastic Mesopotamian kings on the warpath. As in the later South Asian tradition, this tiger-riding goddess of war apparently received water buffaloes in sacrifice. There are several Harappan images of a man who spears a water buffalo while placing one of his feet on the head of the beast. This pose came to signify 'victory' in Mesopotamian glyptic art during the reign of Sargon the Great (2334-2279 BCE)." A. Parpola, The Harappan Unicorn in Eurasian and South Asian perspectives, p. 158.
References:
(1)  Indus seal, M-312, Proto-Koṟṟavai war with Mahisha: http://nganesan.blogspot.com/2021/01/m312-seal-is-not-jallikkattu.html
(2) N. Ganesan, Indus Crocodile Religion as seen in the Iron Age Tamil Nadu, 16th World Sanskrit Conference Proceedings, Bangkok, Thailand, 2016.     https://archive.org/stream/IVCReligionInIronAgeTamilNaduByNGanesan-2016-16thWSC/IVC_Religion_in_IronAge_TamilNadu_by_NGanesan_2016_16th_WSC#page/n0/mode/2up
(3) Kavari in Tirukkuṟaḷ and Sangam Texts: Dravidian word for Gauṛ bison and Tibetan yak  http://nganesan.blogspot.com/2017/11/kavarimaa-tirukkural-conference-2017.html

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