தமிழ்க் கொங்கு: மகர விடங்கர் - கொற்றவை வழிபாடு

Here is my paper written in 2007 discussing the Crocodile-KoRRavai (proto-Durgaa) cult in Indus valley. Next week (July 29, 2013 in Chicago, IL) I will be presenting new archaeological evidence for the continuity of this Indus Crocodile cult (1) in post-Harappan sites in Haryana as Anthropomorphic figure which is wrongly identified as Varaaha (Boar, பன்றி)! and (2) in Tamil Nadu megalithic burial sites such as Adichanallur and also in Indus-like inscription in SaaNuur. The recent inscription of the crocodile (Naakra) and Sakthi with a Banyan fig tree in Tirupparangunram, Madurai and its relationship to the symbols in the earliest silver punch marked coins of Pandyas will be shown. Dravidian name of Mokara/Makara for Indian crocodile attested in Sangam period texts and archaeology is analyzed here.

The original PDF of my 2007 paper on IVC crocodile worship cult is available here for download.

Gharial god and Tiger goddess in the Indus valley:
Some aspects of Bronze Age Indian religion

Abstract: In the Mature Harappan period seals and tablets produced about 4000 years ago, gharial crocodile is portrayed as a ‘horned’ being. As in the famous Pashupati seals (M-304), this horned gharial deity is the central figure surrounded by a typical set of animals. A female being, often connected with tigers, is seen coupling together with the gharial in a fecundity scene in an Indus Valley Civilization (IVC) creation myth. A number of seals show a man on the tree along with a tiger below. This shaman on the tree and tiger motif is linked archaeologically with the gharial deity in the sky, and the Mesopotamian Gilgamesh-like goddess shown between two tigers in IVC tablets and moulds. Also, the same shaman on tree along with a tiger motif is seen in the ‘horned’ gharial “Master of Animals” seals. A comprehensive evaluation of the imagery recorded in the Indus glyptic art is needed to understand the pan-Indus founders’ myth cycle, and the iconography is illustrated with pictures of the IVC sealings. These religious myths of the gharial and tiger divinities are at least as important as the tree goddess worship in M-1186 with a shaman, markhor goat and seven women in front of a bodhi fig tree.