Mirror: http://tinyurl.com/zakkeroNote:
I realise that some images of docs are illegible. The URL links are given for improved readability. Hopefuly, in due course, the ancient docs related to EI, CII etc. will be keyed in afresh in Unicode. Sorry for the inconvenience caused. Kalyan
Evidence of yupa in Kalibangan (quadrangular yupa) and Binjor (octagonal yupa) for वाजपेय, Indus Script Corpora as metalwork catalogues, Yupa inscriptions in India and East Borneo
Kalibangan and Binjor archaeological sites have provided evidence of yupa in fire-altars, together with Indus Script inscriptions which are relatable to the significance of yupa in metalwork.
Kalibangan yupa is quadrangle shaped, with 4 angles. Binjor yupa is octagonal shaped, with 8 angles. Both shapes are consistent with the Vedic tradition of the shape of the yupas related to Vajapeya soma yajña.
Since Soma is not a herbal but a metal [relatable as synonym ams'u to cognate ancu 'iron' (Tocharian)], th Vajapeya soma yajña can also be evaluated, in an archaeometallurgical framework, as a smelting process in fire-altars.
Yupa inscriptions of early centuries of the Common Era are divided into two categories, both related to vedic yajña-s: 1. Huna (Kushana) & Rajasthan yupa inscriptions from ca. 100 CE; 2. Pallava and Mulavarman yupa inscriptions found in Kutei, East Borneo ca. 400 CE.
In the context of evidence of yupa in Kalibangan and Binjor fire-altars, these yupa inscriptions of the historical periods can be seen as a continuum of Indus Script documentation tradition. Indus Script documented metalwork catalogues. Yupa inscriptions of the historical periods specify types of yajñas performed which can be related to metalwork (smeting soma) as in the case of vajapaye yajña performed in Kalibangan and Binjor with 4-angled and 8-angled yupa. The expression bahusuvarNaka used in a Mulavarman yupa inscription indicates the possibility that soma as electrum (gold-silver compound) was smelted resulting in the production of gold coins (in mints). Candi Sukuh evidence of sivalinga as a signifier of lokhaNDa 'metal implements' also reinforces the link of some yajña-s with metalwork.
Of the 19 yupa inscriptions, nine are from Rajasthan, five are from East Borneo (Indonesia) and the rest from regions such as Mathura and Allahabad. The list of 19 yupa inscriptions is as follows:
1 Isapur Mathura, 102 CE
2 Kosam-Allahabad 125 CE
3-4 Nandasa Udaipur 225 CE
5 Barnala Jaipur 227 CE
6-8 Badva Kotah 238 CE
9 Badva Kotah 238 CE
10 Nagar Jaipur 264 CE
11 Barnala Jaipur 278 CE
12 Bijayagarh Bharatpur 371 CE
13-16 Koetei Borneo 400 CE
17-19 Koetei Borneo 400 CE
“…Malavas, Yaudheyas, Arjunayanas, Rajanyas etc...seem to have been patrons of Vedic sacrifices and rituals. Rajasthan witnessed the revival of Vedic religion under these people in the early centuries of the Common era and thus it was natural to get the largest number of inscribed yupa pillars (sacrificial posts) in various parts of Rajasthan. Dr. Satya Prakash discovered as early as in 1952, a yupa pillar inscribed in Brahmi script and dated Krita (Vikram) Samvat 321 (CD 264) from the village Bichpuria near Nagar (district Tonk) which records the performance of some sacrifice (name not specified) by Dharaka, who is styled as agnihotri. He brought to light this important epigraph and edited the same (Maru Bharti, Pilani, Vol. I, No. 2, February 1953). Rajasthan has provided the largest number of yupa pillars in the country of SaSthi-rAtra sacrifice, two pillars (now in Amber Museum) from Barnala (Jaipur) dated v.s. 284 (CE 227) recording the installation of seven yupa pillars by Vardhana and the second dated v.s. 335 (CE 278) referring to the TrirAtra sacrifice, four yupa pillars from Badva (now in Kotah Museum) three of them of the Maukhari dynasty ruling the area. The three inscribed yupa pillars record the performance of TrirAtr yajñas by Balavardhana, Somadeva and Bala Singh, the three sons of the commander-in-chief of the Maukhari kings. Each of them gave one hundred cows in gift on the occasion and installed sacrificial posts. The undated pillar belongs to DhanutrAta of the same dynasty who is credited with the performance of the AstoyAma yajna and putting up a yupa pillar in commemoration thereof. Sri ViSNuvardhana, son of the celebrated Yas'ovarman, performed puNdarIka yajña in the Malava era 428 (CE 371) and installed a yupa pillar at Vijaigarh (Bayana in Bharatpur region). Dr. Prakash studied in detail these incontrovertible evidences in his interesting paper 'Yupa pillars of Rajasthan' (JRIHR, Vol. IV, No. 2, April-June 1968) and evaluated their contribution in Rajasthan Through the Ages (Vol. 1, Chapter IV, 1966).” (Sharma, RG, 'History and Culture' in: Vijai Shankar Srivastava, ed., Abhinav Publications, 1981, Cultural Contours of India: Dr Satya Prakash Felicitation Volume, pp.81-82).
![]()
![]()
The erection of the sacrificial post by a brahmana of Bharadvaja gotra and recording of the performance of a sattra of twelve nights. (Heinrich Luders, 1912, A list of Brahmi inscriptions, no. 149a in: Epigraphia Indica, Appendix to Epigraphia Indica and Record of the Archaeological Survey of India, A List of Brahmi Inscriptions from the earliest times to about A.D. 400 with the exception of those of Asoka, Calcutta.)
https://archive.org/stream/epigraphiaindica02bhan#page/n5/mode/2up
ShAhi Vasishka recorded an inscription in Samskritam on a yupa in Isapur, near Mathura in 24 (?CE 1122) (JRAS, 1912, p.118).
Three Maukhari Inscriptions on Yupas : Krita year 295 Epigraphia Indica Vol. 23
Nandsa Yupa inscription Epigraphia Indica, 1947-48, Vol. 27, pp. 252 to 255
Allahabad Municipal Musum Yupa Inscription
Badva (Fourth Mukhari) Yupa inscription
Kosam (Allahabad) Yupa inscription of Bhadramagha
Two Barnala yupa inscriptions
Bijayagarh yupa inscription of Vishnuvardhana
Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum, Vol. 3, pp. 252-254
This monograph is an account of Yupa inscriptions, most of which were found on sites on the banks of Vedic River Sarasvati mostly in Rajasthan. Yupa inscriptions were also found in Indonesia ascribed to the reign of King Mulavarman in Kutai kingdom.
Yupa inscriptions are a continuum of the Indus Script tradition of documenting metalwork catalogues with documentation of wealth distributed to the participants and performers of specific Yajña-s such as as'vamedha, agniSToma. This continuum lends credence to the possibility that Soma yajña did not involve a herbal but a mineral consistent with the synony of Soma, ams'u which has a Tocharian cognate, ancu, 'iron'.
![]()
Knot in a Brahmi inscription, Gujarat with the same hieroglyph as shown on Indus Script Corpora metalwork catalogues. This hieroglyph of 'knot' signifies: dhāu 'rope' rebus: dhāu 'metal' PLUS मेढा [ mēḍhā ] 'a curl or snarl; twist in thread' rebus: mẽṛhẽt, meḍ ‘iron’. Thus, metallic ore. mēdhḥ
मेधः 1 A sacrifice, as in नरमेध, अश्वमेध, एकविंशति- मेधान्ते Mb.14.29.18. (com. मेधो युद्धयज्ञः । 'यज्ञो वै मेधः'इति श्रुतेः ।).An offering, oblation
![]()
Mohenjo-daro. m1457 Copper plate with 'twist' hieroglyph. Mohejodaro, tablet in bas relief (M-478) The first hieroglyph-multiplex on the left (twisted rope): dhāu 'rope' rebus: dhāu 'metal' PLUS मेढा [ mēḍhā ] 'a curl or snarl; twist in thread' rebus: mẽṛhẽt, meḍ ‘iron’. Thus, metallic ore.
Hieroglyph: मेढा [mēḍhā] A twist or tangle arising in thread or cord, a curl or snarl (Marathi). Rebus: meḍ 'iron, copper' (Munda. Slavic) mẽṛhẽt, meD 'iron' (Mu.Ho.Santali)
meď 'copper' (Slovak)
Wilhelm von Hevesy wrote about the Finno-Ugric-Munda kinship, like "Munda-Magyar-Maori, an Indian link between the antipodes new tracks of Hungarian origins" and "Finnisch-Ugrisches aus Indien". (DRIEM, George van: Languages of the Himalayas: an ethnolinguistic handbook. 1997. p.161-162.) Sumerian-Ural-Altaic language affinities have been noted. Given the presence of Meluhha settlements in Sumer, some Meluhha glosses might have been adapted in these languages. One etyma cluster refers to 'iron' exemplified by meD (Ho.). The alternative suggestion for the origin of the gloss med 'copper' in Uralic languages may be explained by the word meD (Ho.) of Munda family of Meluhha language stream:
Sa. <i>mE~R~hE~'d</i> `iron'. ! <i>mE~RhE~d</i>(M).
Ma. <i>mErhE'd</i> `iron'.
Mu. <i>mERE'd</i> `iron'.
~ <i>mE~R~E~'d</i> `iron'. ! <i>mENhEd</i>(M).
Ho <i>meD</i> `iron'.
Bj. <i>merhd</i>(Hunter) `iron'.
KW <i>mENhEd</i>
@(V168,M080)
— Slavic glosses for 'copper'
Мед [Med]Bulgarian
Bakar Bosnian
Медзь [medz']Belarusian
Měď Czech
Bakar Croatian
KòperKashubian
Бакар [Bakar]Macedonian
Miedź Polish
Медь [Med']Russian
Meď Slovak
BakerSlovenian
Бакар [Bakar]Serbian
Мідь [mid'] Ukrainian[unquote]
Miedź, med' (Northern Slavic, Altaic) 'copper'.
One suggestion is that corruptions from the German "Schmied", "Geschmeide" = jewelry. Schmied, a smith (of tin, gold, silver, or other metal)(German) result in med ‘copper’.
The remrkable feature of the Yupa inscriptions are that they are in Samskritam. Patanjali comments on the nature of mleccha mispronunciations in the context of evaluation of such inscriptions in Samskritam.
Seals have also been found on the fire-altars associated with the Yupa inscriptions.
bhaTa 'warrior' rebus: bhaTa 'furnace'
kolmo 'rice plant' rebus: kolimi 'smithy, forge'
koD 'horn' rebus: koD 'workshop'
kola 'tiger' rebus: kolle 'blacksmith', kolhe 'smelter' kol 'working in iron'
Thus, the terracotta cake inscription signifies a iron workshop smelter/furnace and smithy.
This Indus Script tradition of inscribed records as metalwork catalogues on seals and terracotta cakes continues in the historical periods as Yupa inscriptions of Rajasthan and Indonesia detailing the types of yajña-s performed commemorated by the Yupa inscriptions.
The Yupa inscriptions are recorded on large-sized yaSTi of the type found in Binjor, Kalibangan, Lothal.
Indus Script Corpora are catalogues of metalwork recorded in mleccha, the spoken version of later-day languages of Indian Sprachbund. Yupa Inscriptions are records of yajña-s performed in Samskritam, the litearary version of later-day languages of Indian Sprachbund.
This continuum of fire-worship tradition evidenced by metalwork catalogues and fire-worship in Yajña-s points to the possibility that some of the yajña-s were metalwork processes involving fire-altars and producing varieties of metals such as soma (electrum) or gold (suvarNam); inscriptions indicate that wealth was distributed by yajamAna or rulers such as GajAyana SarvatAta or Pushyamitra, to the priests and participants of the yajña-s.
One Yupa inscription of Mulavarman, Kutai kingdom, Indonesia refers to suvarNam, gold. Candi-Sukuh inscribed Sivalinga (6 ft. tall Yupa) may also be evaluated in this tradition of metalwork since the Candi-Sukuh linga has an inscription which refers to Gangga sudhi 'purification by portable furnace, kanga'.
According to the Allahabad Yupainscription, in 2nd century CE, a village was assigned by the king to a minister who donated it to a priest. (Epigraphia Indica, (EI), XXVII, no. 43, lines 8-9, also see cf. EI, XXIV, no. 34, p. 252).
“Patanjali deplores the barbarisms of his time, for example, the 'wrong' words for 'cow' (gAvI, goNI, gotA, gopotalikA), which he includes among the 'many debased' (apabhrams'a) forms of the 'few' correct words. Based on the evidence of the
inscriptions, this describes the linguistic situation perfectly. Or, he complains about the wrong pronunciation of the three s-sounds of Sanskrit that had collapsed nearly everywhere in north India into one phoneme – a factor that, incidentally, again points to MathurA, where it is seen in inscriptions of brahmins. His advice therefore is not to talk like the barbarians (mleccha). The Sanskrit of his time
is exemplified by the first known Sanskrit inscription, the Ayodhya stone inscription (Sircar 1965: 94 no. 9), which is a ittleFrom the beginning of our era (S'o(m)DAsa, circa 1 to 25 CE, Sircar 1965: 114 sqq, Luders, 1961), the Mathura stone inscription (Sircar no 26) or the Kushana time Isapur Yupa inscription (Sircar 1965: 149 no. 47A).”(Austin Patrick Olivelle, 2006, Between the empires: society
in India 300 BCE to 400 CE, OUP, USA).
“In the Mahabhashya, Patanjali refers to sacrifices performed for...iha Pushyamitram YajayAmah: 'here we perform the sacrifices for Pushyamitra'. This is supported by the Ayodhya inscription of Dhanadeva (JBORS, X, p. 203 I,2), which
records the performance of two As'vamedha sacrifices by Pushyamitra
and the MalavikAgnimitra of Kalidasa. The Mahabhashya also refers to
different types of sacrifices – AgnishToma, RajasUya, Vajapeya, and
the domestic ones – Pakayajña or Panchayajña, accessories needed in
such sacrifices, their duration, the benefits that accrued from their
performances, and lastly, the priests required for them, who received
handsome dakshiNAs. Patanjali also mensions the Yupas, which were
associated with Vedic sacrifices. The S'unga-SAtavAhana-S'aka
Period. During this period, sacrifices were performed, and the
yupas (sacrificial posts) were erected at important places...In the
second or first century BCE, GajAyana SarvatAta performed an
As'vamedha sacrifice at MadhyamikA (EI, XVI, p.27; EI, XXIII, p.198).
From the NandsA yupa inscription of VS 282 (226 CE)(EI, XXVII, pp.252
ff; IHQ, XXIX, p.80), it is known that the Malava leader Nandisoma of
the Sogin clan, performed the EkashashTirAtra sacrifice to proclaim
the independence of his republic. From the BarNAla inscription f 228
CE, it is known that a king, whose name ended in Varddhana, erected
seven yupas (EI, XXVI, pp. 118ff.) The reference to the group of
seven yupas may show that the king had performed seven sacrifices.
Another yupa inscription foud here, commemorates a sacrifice
performed fifty-one years later. This inscription, of 279 CE,
commemorates the performance of five TrirAtra, or perhaps
GargatrirAtra, sacrifices by a BrAhmaNa. The Maukharis of BaDvA also
championed the Vedic religion. In 293 CE, MahAsenApati Bala and his
three sons performed a TrirAtra sacrifice (EI, XXIII, pp. 42-52).
From the inscription of VakATaka copper plates, it is known that the
BhAras'ivas under BhavanAga performed as many as ten as'vamedhas and
won the Ganges water by their prowess. KP Jayaswal rightly concluded
that they must have flourished from about the beginning of the third
century CE, and celebrated their As'vamedhas to commemorate their
conquest of the Gangetic valley, after the expulsion of the KushANas.
(History of India, 150-350 CE). At Vidis'A, the remains of some olf
YajñakuNDas or sacrificial pits of the second or third century CE
have been discovered, and they prove that Vidis'a was a great centre
of the Vedic religion. (ASI, 1914-15, p.75). These are of exceptional
interest because nowhere else have such remains been found. Near
them, two drains were found, connected with the sacrificial pits. On
the levels of the KuNDas and the brick pavement, the walls of two
structures were discovered, which were intended to be spacious halls
constructed for accommodating a large number of people gathered for
sacrifice. These sacrifices instituted by kings or wealthy YajamAnas
of the ancient times lasted for months, and some for years, and for
their adequate performance, halls of permanent structure were as much
a necessity as the kuNDas themselves. A sacrificial site was always a
meeting place for Rishis, Yajñikas and distinguished guests of the
sacrificer. The hall excavated in the south of the KuNDas served the
purpose of a dining hall or for feasting, and the other huge and
extensive hall was meant for the carrying on of philosophical
debates. Some seals connected with the sacrificial site have been
discovered. On some of them, the words hotA, potA and mantra, which
are technical to sacrificial literature, have been carved. The
sealings have been classified under four heads, viz., – 1) rulers,
2) officials, 3) private individuals, and 4) passport. Only two seals
of the first class were found. One of these gives the name of
Vis'vAmitra as the name of a ruler not so far known from any
epigraphic or literary source. Of the three sealings of the second
class, two belong to two different daNDanAyakas or police officers,
and one to an officer haya-hasty-adhikArI (in charge of elephants and
horses). There are also seals of private individuals. All these
persons were followers of the Vedic religion. The seals of passport
were meant for admitting persons to the sacrificial hall.”(Kailash
chand Jain, 1972, Malwa through the ages, from the earliest times
to 1305 AD', Dehi, Motilal Banarsidass, pp 192-194).
Mulawarman Yupa inscriptions
“The first yupa inscription of Mulavarman was erected to commemorate a bahu-suvarnaka sacrifice,'that on which gold is spent in profusion'. If the inscription can be taken literally, it points up the value of gold in the Southeast Aian world fo the fifth century. Another records that Mulavarman 'had given a gift (dAnam) of a thousand kine and a score the twice-born (i.e. the brAhmaNas)....(consequently) for that deed of merit (puNyasya) thi sacrificial post (yupo) has been made...A third inscription is similar: 'Let the foremost amongst the priests and whatsoever other pious men (there be) hear of the meritorious deed (puNyam) of Mulavarman the king of illustrious and resplendent fame – (let them hear) of his gret gift (bahudAna), his gift of cattle (?)(jivadAna), his gift of a wonder-tree (kalpavRkSam), hs gift of land (bhUmidAna). For these multitudes of pious deeds (puNyaganam) this sacrificial post has been set up by the priests.' It is the duty of men of prowess to give liberally of their substance so as to acquire greater wealth and status, thereby initiating an endless cycle of giving at all levels of society. It is also imperative that these meritorious deeds be properly recorded. In the second and third inscriptions, there is an expressed linkage between the giving of gifts (dAna) and the acquisition of merit (puNya). To record these pious acts a sacrificial post (yupa) was erected. What we have, then, is action on the temporal plane that was meant to have eternal impact in the sense that Mulavarman was building his field of
merit.” (Robert S. Wicks, 1992, Money, markets and trade in early Southeast Asia: the development of indigenous monetary systems to AD 1400, SEAP Publications, Cornell, Ithaca, NY, p.245; loc. Cit. Mulavarman's First Yupa Inscription; FH van Naerssen, and RC longh, The economic and administrative history of early Indonesia, Leiden: Brill, 1977), p. 20; J. Ph. Vogel, 'The Yupa inscription of
Mulavarman from Koelei (East Borneo)', Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land-en Volkenkunde 79, 1918: 213; Mulavarman's Second Yupa Inscription, Vogel, 'Yupa Inscriptions', p. 214; Mulavarman's Third Yupa Inscription; Vogel, 'Yupa Inscriptions', p. 215.)
“Kutai Kingdom was the oldest Hindu Kingdom in Indonesia placed in Muara Karman, East Borneo. This inscription formed Yupa, a stone pillar that is used to bind the victim in the form of animals or humans to be sacrificed to the gods. There are seven Yupa which contains the inscription, but only 4 were successfully read and translated. This inscription use Pallawa Pre-Nagari letters and in Sanskrit, which is estimated from the shape and type dating from around 400 AD.
... Contents of Mulawarman Inscription
Fill Yupa first inscription mentions that the first king of the kingdom of Kutai is Kudungga. Kudungga which is the original name of Indonesia at that time showed that he was not the founder of the royal family. Additionally, Yupa mention also that during the reign of Asmawarman in Kutai Kingdom Aswamedha ceremony held. This ceremony is a ceremony of release of the horse to determine the boundaries of the empire Kutai.
The Maharaja Kundunga, very noble, has a son of the renowned, namely the Aswawarman, which like the Amshuman (sun god) grow very noble family. The Aswawarman have three sons, such as fire (holy) three. Leading off the third son is the Mulawarman, civilized king good, strong and powerful. The Mulawarman has held receptions (salvation called) gold very much. Create a memorial feast (salvation) that stone monument was established by the brahmins.
A Yupa with inscription in the National Museum of Indonesia in Jakarta
Overall, contents of Mulawarman Inscription tell about Mulawarman that contribute to the Brahmans form the many cows. Mulawarman mentioned as the grandson of Kudungga, and children from Aswawarman. This inscription is evidence of the oldest of the Hindu kingdoms in Indonesia. Kutai name is commonly used as the name of this kingdom though not mentioned in the inscription, because the inscriptions found in Kutai, precisely in the upper Mahakam River.
Mulawarman Inscription IV
The Mulawarman, the noble king and foremost, giving alms 20,000 cows to the the brahmins who such as fire, (located) in the holy land (named) Waprakeswara. Create (warning) will favor the king's goodness, this monument was created by the Brahmins who came to this place.
![]()
”
http://www.ocfinid.com/2015/04/the-oldest-inscription-in-indonesia.html
![]()
![Zoom In]()
![Zoom In]()
https://disc.leidenuniv.nl/webclient/DeliveryManager?custom_att_2=simple_viewer&pid=1980907![Zoom In]()
https://disc.leidenuniv.nl/webclient/DeliveryManager?custom_att_2=simple_viewer&pid=1978892
Inscriptions; yupa; Sanskrit; Mulawarman.https://beta.worldcat.org/archivegrid/collection/data/905876910
"Kutai Martadipura Kingdom is the first Hindu kingdom in Indonesia ( Nusantara ) which has the oldest historical evidence. It was established at around the 4th century. The kingdom is located in Muara Kaman, East Kalimantan, precisely in the Mahakam river. "Kutai Martadipura Kingdom Area
![Another Kutai Yupa Inscription]()
Another Kutai Yupa inscriptionhttp://hubpages.com/education/Kutai-Kingdom
Sources: From the third century CE, Samskritam inscriptions on Yupa have been found from Badva (SI I.91-2) and Barnala (EI 26, 118-23) in Rajasthan. The dating formula is in kRtehi, that is, kRta = Vikrama years.
Fourth Maukhari Yupa inscription from Badva, AS Altekar, EI 23, 1935-36, 42-52; Epigraphica Indica, Vol. 24, no. 34, 1937-38, pp. 251-53; SI I.91-2, 90, 182
Barnala (Jaipur Dist. Rajasthan) yupa inss., kRta (=Vikrama) 284 and 335 = CE 223 and 229; AS Altekar, EI 26, 1941-42, 118-23. 90.
Dange, Sadashiv A. "The yUpa - its nature and evolution." BhAratI.
Vol.16(1985-1987) pp.1-10
Sahoo, P. C. "On the yUpa in the BrAhmaNa texts." Bulletin of the
Deccan College Research Institute. Vol. 54/55(1994/1995) pp.175-183.
Upadhyaya, Vibha. "Yupa Inscription" in R.K. Sharma & Devendra Handa
(eds). Revealing India's Past: Recent Trends in Art and Archaeology
(Prof. Ajay Mitra Shastri Commemoration Volume - 2 vols.) Aryan Books
International [2005] pp.233-247 ISBN 81-7305-289-1
EI XXIII: #7: 42-52: A.S.Atlekar, Three Mukhari Inscriptions on Yupas,kRta year 295. (Stone yuupas begin ca. 2nd CE, innovation over the wooden ones, from Buddhist pillars: Garga-triraatra ritual, an amalgam of agniSToma, ukhthya, and atiraatra.)
EI XXIV: #33: 245-251: A.S.Atlekar, Allahabad Museum YupaInscription:Sivadatta's saptasomasaMstha
EI XXIV: #34: 251-253: A.S.Atlekar, Fourth Yupa Inscription from Badva,3rd CE: aaptoryaama ritual
EI XXVII: #43: 252-267: A.S.Atlekar, Nanda Yupa Inscriptions, kRtayear 282: a 61-day sattra (!) ekazaSTiraatra
B. Ch. Chhabra, "Yuupa Inscriptions", in India Antiqua (Fel. Vol. J. Ph. Vogel, Leiden 1947).
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
(Chhabra,B.Ch., 1947, Yupa inscriptions in: Jean Ph. Vogel, India antiqua,
Brill Archive, pp. 77-82)
Gustav Solomon Oppert, ed., 1893, Yādavaprakāśa Vaijayanti, London
Mirror: http://tinyurl.com/nnq57yg
Indus Script inscriptions, e.g. on Kalibangan terracotta cake, found in fire-altars of Sarasvati-Sindhu civilization compare with Yupa inscriptions of Yajña-s.
Many inscriptions of Indus Script Corpora are found from archaeological sites which also evidenced fire-altars and metalwork, sites such as Kalibangan, Binjor, Lothal, Harappa, Mohenjo-daro, Dholavira, Rakhigarhi.
This monograph presents the Vedic tradition of Cosmic pillar, Atharva Veda Skambha, in the context of archaeological evidences of fire-altars of Sarasvati-Sindhu civilization, Yupa inscriptions.
The significance of the yupa or yaṣṭi found in almost every fire-altar of Sarasvati-Sindhu civilization is central to unraveling the worship of aniconic Siva linga, Rudra, as a cosmic dancer manifesting the transmutation of mere earth and stone into metal in smelters, furnaces and fire-altars of the civilization.
I suggest the यूप yupa inscriptions of Rajasthan found close to Binjor, Kalibangan and other archaeological sites of the civilization and Indonesia are Kāṇḍarishi काण्डर्षि tarpaṇam venerating the traditions handed down by the Vedic Rishis. See: http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2015/12/binjor-seal-with-indus-script.html
The Kalibangan fire-altar had a यूप yupa; an inscription in Indus Script hieroglyphs was found in a terracotta cake found in a fire-altar (See details below). This tradition of doumenting inscriptions related to work in fire-altar continued in historical periods in yupa inscriptions documenting yajña-s performed and wealth distributed.
The yupa or yaṣṭi of fire-altars is comparable to the three stalks shown on Sit-Shamshi Bronze which is a narrative of bronze metalwork and sun worship. Close to the three stalks are located a yupa or pillar, two water-troughs, L-shaped pITham. The three stalks are signified by the expression: kolmo kaṇḍa 'three stalks' rebus: kolimi 'smithy/forge'; khaNDa 'implements'. "Sit Shamshi bronze model with a 60x40 cm base is a breathtaking narrative of an offering made at sunrise. An inscription on the model is in Akkadian while the underlying language is Elamite which refers to sit e sham. Philological links are traced to the Vedic tradition of Upakarma annual reaffirmation of the vow to protect dharma, veneration of the Sun, ancestors and sages who have shown the righteous path. Annual Kāṇḍarishi काण्डर्षि tarpaṇam is performed. I suggest that the ancestral memory of Kāṇḍa, 'metalwork' is enshrined in the Sit Shamshi model presenting Indus Script hieroglyph-multiplexes in rebus-metonymy layered cipher of Meluhha, Indian sprachbund."
![]()
I do not know why BrahmaNa texts derive the word यूप yupa from the root yup, 'to efface, to scatter, debar, conceal'.. Satapatha Brahmana: By means of the sacrifice the gods gained that supreme authority which the now wield. They spake, ' How can this (world) of ours be made unattainable to men ?' They sipped the sap of the sacrifice, even as bees would suck out honey ; and having drained the sacrifice and scattered it by means of the sacrificial post, they disappeared : and because they scattered (yopaya, viz. the sacrifice) therewith, therefore it is called yupa (post) (SBr. iii KANDA, 4 ADHYAYA, III Brahmana, 14, page 101)
https://ia802704.us.archive.org/9/items/satapathabrahman02egge/satapathabrahman02egge_bw.pdf यूप [p=856,1] m. (prob. fr. √ युप् ; but according to Un2. iii , 27 , fr. √2. यु) a post , beam , pillar , (esp.) a smooth post or stake to which the sacrificial victim is fastened , any sacrificial post or stake (usually made of bamboos or खदिर wood ; in R. i , 13 , 24 ; 25, where the horse sacrifice is described , 21 of these posts are set up , 6 made of बिल्व , 6 of खदिर , 6 ofपलाश , one of उडुम्बर , one of श्लेष्मातक , and one of देव-दारु) RV. &c; a column erected in honour of victory , a trophy (= जय-स्तम्भ) L.
यूपं कृत्वा तु मलयमवनाहं च तक्षकम् Mb.7.22.73. Binding, girding, putting on.-
antahpAtah 'a post fixed in the middle of the sacrificial ground (used in ritual works); अन्तःपूर्वेण यूपं परीत्यान्तःपात्यदेशे स्थापयति Kāty'.
Satapatha Brahmana III.7.1.4 seems to refer to the Yupa as a cosmic tree.
See also: Sbr. V.2.1.9: While setting up the ladder, the yajñika says to his wife, 'Come, let us go up to Heaven'. She answers, 'Let us go up'. (Sbr V.2.1.9) and they begin to mount the ladder. At the top, while touching the head of the post, the yajñika says: 'We have reached Heaven' (Taittiriya Samhita, SBr. Etc.) 'I have attained to heaven, to the gods, I have become immortal' (Taittiriya samhita 1.7.9) 'In truth, the yajñika makes himself a ladder and a bridge to reach the celestial world' (Taittiriya Samhita VI.6.4.2)
Eggeling' translation of Sbr. Pt III, Vol. XLI, Oxford, 1894, p.31 says:
“The post is either wrapped up or bound up in 17 cloths for Prajapati is 17-fold.' The top of the Yupa carries a wheel called cas'Ala in a horizontal position. The indrakila too is adorned with a wheel-ike object made of white cloth, but it is placed in a vertical position.
Notes taken from 'The symbolism of the Indrakila' Senarat Paranavitana, Leelananda Prematilleka, Johanna Engelberta van Lohulzen-De Leeuw, 1978, Senarat Paranavitana Commemoration Volume, BRILL 1978, p.247)
Yupa is axis mundi, axis of the Universe, Rudra's grace
“...Yupa is a straight upright stone, like a truncated column. It has six or eight angles and a rounded head at the top, and represents the sacrificial post cut from the trunk of a tree to which in vedic sacrifices the victim was tied. Placed on the summit of a temple in place of the amRta kalas'a, it has a deep significance. The PuruSa has from the time of the Vedas and the BrahmaNas has been associated with the ideas of Yupa, vanaspati, yajña (sacrificial post, tree or lord of the forest and sacrifice). In the famous PuruSa sukta of the Rigveda the great PuruSa is tied to the stake by the gods, and out of the sacrifice of his person arose the entire universe. The Vedas, the Vajaseya SamhitA, the TaittirIya SamhitA, the S'atapatha BrAhmanAs, the S'rauta Sutras, all scriptures have extolled his greatness as the supreme divinity, Divinity born of sacrifice. And in subsequent times this PuruSa can still be recognized under other names, as Ekam, Sat, Atman, PuruSottama, Brahman. The yupa on the summit of a temple, which appears as an extension of the axis of the whole building speaks it out in unmistakable terms, that sacrifice not only created the world, but is that which in the form of a pillar, always upholds it. Sacrifice is the 'axis mundi'. When the yupa is installed with great ceremony by the chief architect and the offering priest, it is done under recitation of the RudAdhyAya of the White Yajurveda. This hymn is an invocation to the most terrible and destructive aspects of Rudra in terms as these: 'Loosen thy bowstring, loosen it from thy bow's two extremities and cast away, o Lord divine, the arrows that are in thy hands'.'Having unbent thy bow, o thou hundred-eyed, hundred-quivered one! And dulled thy pointed arrows' heads, be kind and gracious unto us! Behind such fervent prayers stands the knowledge that the yupa is indeed the 'axis of the universe', which, like the mast of a ship, might be endangered by the storm, but which by Rudra's grace should remain standing firm on its divine foundations and should not ever be uprooted by inimical forces.” (Alice Boner, Sadāśiva Rath Śarmā, 1966, Silpa Prakasa Medieval Orissan Sanskrit Text on Temple Architecture, Brill Archive, p.xlii.)
Yupa inscriptions of the historical periods from 2nd century are a continuum of the tradition of implanting a yaṣṭi in fire-altars of Sarasvati-Sindhu civilization. It appears that the implanting of a yaṣṭi together with terracotta cakes (one cake has been found in Kalibangan with Indus Script hieroglyphs signifying metalwork in smelters) is a proclamation of metalwork, the same way the inscriptions of Indus Script Corpora are proclamations, constituting catalogus catalogorum of metalwork.
Yaṣṭi is a yupa or skambha which signifies a baton of divine authority impacting metalwork of Bharatam Janam. Similarly, the yupa inscriptions of historical periods are proclamations of commemoration, of fire-worship such as AgniSToma or As'vamedha. The inscriptions also detail sharing of wealth.
See: Pages 160-161 of Satapatha Brahmana text SBr I.6.2.4
http://tinyurl.com/phj2eae The metaphor of the yupa is the extraordinarily complex and it is virtually impossible to unravel the details of the metalwork/fire-work processes signified by the skambha as a hieroglyph, a baton of divine authority to explain the phenomena of mere earth and stone getting transformed into metal in smelters/furnaces/fire-altars as a manifestation of divine dispensation.
In Kalibangan, the fire-altar revealed a Yaṣṭi which is a clearly identifiable as a yupa or skambha of Rigveda/Atharva Veda texts. The Yupa Skambha is an extraordinary metaphor used in many Vedic texts describing the sacred processes involved in a yajña. The sacred processes are a manifestation of the cosmic dance of Siva (symbolised by the Skambha as linga or stele in fire-altars like the one discovered in Kalibangan).![]()
Kalibangan. Fire-altar with stele 'linga' and terracotta cakes. Plate XXA. "Within one of the rooms of amost each house was found the curious 'fire-altar', sometimes also in successive levels, indicating their recurrent function." (p.31)
The stele found in Kalibangan fire-altar is comarable to the Yupa of historical periods from ca. 2nd century found in Rajasthan and Indonesia. These Yupa detail inscriptions of yajña-s and distribution of wealth, the way the terracotta cake found in Kalibangan fire-altar in Indus Script hieroglyphs signified the metal work or creation of wealth with a smelter.
http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2015/12/yastifound-in-fire-altars-of-sarasvati.html
[quote] Anthropologist Christopher John Fuller conveys that although most sculpted images (murtis) are anthropomorphic, the aniconic Shiva Linga is an important exception.( The Camphor Flame: Popular Hinduism and society in India, pg. 58). There is a hymn in the Atharvaveda which praises a pillar (Sanskrit: stambha), and this is one possible origin of linga-worship.(N. K. Singh, Encyclopaedia of Hinduism p. 1567.
The Hindu scripture, Shiva Purana, describes the origin of the lingam, known as Shiva-linga, as the beginning-less and endless cosmic pillar (Stambha) of fire, the cause of all causes. ( Chaturvedi. Shiv Purana (2006 ed.). Diamond Pocket Books. p. 11) Lord Shiva is pictured as emerging from the Lingam – the cosmic pillar of fire – proving his superiority over gods Brahma and Vishnu.This is known as Lingodbhava. The Linga Purana also supports this interpretation of lingam as a cosmic pillar, symbolizing the infinite nature of Shiva. According to Linga Purana, the lingam is a complete symbolic representation of the formless Universe Bearer - the oval shaped stone is resembling mark of the Universe and bottom base as the Supreme Power holding the entire Universe in it. (" It was almost as if the linga had emerged to settle Brahma and Vishnu’s dispute. The linga rose way up into the sky and it seemed to have no beginning or end.") Similar interpretation is also found in the Skanda Purana: "The endless sky (that great void which contains the entire universe) is the Linga, the Earth is its base. At the end of time the entire universe and all the Gods finally merge in the Linga itself."(http://is1.mum.edu/vedicreserve/skanda.htm)In yogic lore, the linga is considered the first form to arise when creation occurs, and also the last form before the dissolution of creation. It is therefore seen as an access to Shiva or that which lies beyond physical creation.
Sources: Harding, Elizabeth U. (1998). "God, the Father". Kali: The Black Goddess of Dakshineswar. Motilal Banarsidass. pp. 156–157
Blurton, T. R. (1992). "Stone statue of Shiva as Lingodbhava". Extract from Hindu art (London, The British Museum Press). British Museum site. Retrieved 2 July 2010. [unquote]
https://www.scribd.com/doc/293482764/Skanda-Purana-maheshvara-kaumari-kandam
A remarkable discovery is the octoganal brick which is a yaṣṭi.in a fire-altar of Bijnor site on the banks of Vedic River Sarasvati. Thi yaṣṭi attests to the continuum of the Vedic tradition of fire-altars venerating the yaṣṭi as a baton, skambha of divine authority which transforms mere stone and earth into metal ingots, a manifestation of the cosmic dance enacted in the furnace/smelter of a smith. Bhuteswar sculptural friezes provide evidence to reinforce this divine dispensation by describing the nature of the smelting process displaying a tree to signify kuTi rebus: kuThi 'smelter' with kharva 'dwarf' adorning the structure with a garland to signify kharva 'a nidhi or wealth' of Kubera. A Bhutesvar frieze also indicates the skambha with face signifying ekamukha linga rebus:
mũhe 'ingot' (Santali) mũhã̄ = the quantity of iron produced at one time in a native smelting furnace of the Kolhes; iron produced by the Kolhes and formed like a four-cornered piece a little pointed at each end; mūhā mẽṛhẽt = iron smelted by the Kolhes and formed into an equilateral lump a little pointed at each of four ends;kolhe tehen mẽṛhẽt ko mūhā akata = the Kolhes have to-day produced pig iron (Santali).
![Inline image 1]()
Kalibangan. Mature Indus period: terracotta cake incised with horned deity. Courtesy: Archaeological Survey of India See notes at http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2013/05/functions-served-by-terracotta-cakes-of.html A terracotta type found in Kalibangan has the hieroglyph of a warrior: bhaTa 'warrior' Rebus: bhaTa 'furnace', thus reinforcing the smelting process in the fire-altars. Smelters might have used bhaThi 'bellows'. bhástrā f. ʻ leathern bag ʼ ŚBr., ʻ bellows ʼ Kāv., bhastrikā -- f. ʻ little bag ʼ Daś. [Despite EWA ii 489, not from a √bhas ʻ blow ʼ (existence of which is very doubtful). -- Basic meaning is ʻ skin bag ʼ (cf. bakura<-> ʻ bellows ʼ ~ bākurá -- dŕ̊ti -- ʻ goat's skin ʼ), der. from bastá -- m. ʻ goat ʼ RV. (cf.bastājina -- n. ʻ goat's skin ʼ MaitrS. = bāstaṁ carma Mn.); with bh -- (and unexpl. -- st -- ) in Pa. bhasta -- m. ʻ goat ʼ, bhastacamma -- n. ʻ goat's skin ʼ. Phonet. Pa. and all NIA. (except S. with a) may be < *bhāsta -- , cf. bāsta -- above (J. C. W.)]With unexpl. retention of -- st -- : Pa. bhastā -- f. ʻ bellows ʼ (cf. vāta -- puṇṇa -- bhasta -- camma -- n. ʻ goat's skin full ofwind ʼ), biḷāra -- bhastā -- f. ʻ catskin bag ʼ, bhasta -- n. ʻ leather sack (for flour) ʼ; K. khāra -- basta f. ʻ blacksmith's skin bellows ʼ; -- S. bathī f. ʻ quiver ʼ (< *bhathī); A. Or. bhāti ʻ bellows ʼ, Bi. bhāthī, (S of Ganges) bhã̄thī; OAw. bhāthā̆ ʻ quiver ʼ; H. bhāthā m. ʻ quiver ʼ, bhāthī f. ʻ bellows ʼ; G. bhāthɔ,bhātɔ, bhāthṛɔ m. ʻ quiver ʼ (whence bhāthī m. ʻ warrior ʼ); M. bhātā m. ʻ leathern bag, bellows, quiver ʼ, bhātaḍ n. ʻ bellows, quiver ʼ; <-> (X bhráṣṭra -- ?) N. bhã̄ṭi ʻ bellows ʼ, H. bhāṭhī f.
Pk. bhaṭṭha -- m.n. ʻ gridiron ʼ; K. büṭhü f. ʻ level surface by kitchen fireplace on which vessels are put when taken off fire ʼ; S. baṭhu m. ʻ large pot in which grain is parched, large cooking fire ʼ, baṭhī f. ʻ distilling furnace ʼ; L. bhaṭṭh m. ʻ grain -- parcher's oven ʼ, bhaṭṭhī f. ʻ kiln, distillery ʼ, awāṇ. bhaṭh; P. bhaṭṭhm., °ṭhī f. ʻ furnace ʼ, bhaṭṭhā m. ʻ kiln ʼ; N. bhāṭi ʻ oven or vessel in which clothes are steamed for washing ʼ; A. bhaṭā ʻ brick -- or lime -- kiln ʼ; B. bhāṭi ʻ kiln ʼ; Or. bhāṭi ʻ brick -- kiln, distilling pot ʼ; Mth. bhaṭhī, bhaṭṭī ʻ brick -- kiln, furnace, still ʼ; Aw.lakh. bhāṭhā ʻ kiln ʼ; H. bhaṭṭhā m. ʻ kiln ʼ, bhaṭ f. ʻ kiln, oven, fireplace ʼ; M. bhaṭṭā m. ʻ pot of fire ʼ, bhaṭṭī f. ʻ forge ʼ. -- X bhástrā -- q.v.bhrāṣṭra -- ; *bhraṣṭrapūra -- , *bhraṣṭrāgāra -- .Addenda: bhráṣṭra -- : S.kcch. bhaṭṭhī keṇī ʻ distil (spirits) ʼ.*bhraṣṭrāgāra ʻ grain parching house ʼ. [bhráṣṭra -- , agāra -- ]P. bhaṭhiār, °ālā m. ʻ grainparcher's shop ʼ.(CDIAL 9656, 9658)
![]()
The fire altar, with a yasti made of an octagonal brick. Bijnor (4MSR) near Anupgarh, Rajasthan. Photo:Subhash Chandel, ASI
"(Archaeologist) Pandey said fire altars had been found in Kalibangan and Rakhigarhi, and the yastis were octagonal or cylindrical bricks. There were “signatures” indicating that worship of some kind had taken place at the fire altar here." http://www.frontline.in/arts-and-culture/heritage/harappan-surprise/article7053030.ece Amarendra Nath, archaeologist who excavated Rakhigarhi also noted: “Mature Period II is marked by a fortification wall and fire altars with yaSTi and yonipITha, with muSTikA offerings.”(Puratattgva: Bulletin of the Indian Archaeological Society 29 (1998-1999): 46-49).
Compare these 'shafts' in fire-altars with the pillars or cylindrical offering bases in Dholavira within an 8-shaped stone-wall enclosure:
Also comparable are the skambha pillar atop a smelter in Bhutesvar friezes:
मेंढा [ mēṇḍhā ] A crook or curved end rebus: meḍ 'iron, metal' (Ho. Munda)
![]()
Relief with Ekamukha linga. Mathura. 1st cent. CE (Fig. 6.2).This is the most emphatic representation of linga as a pillar of fire. The pillar is embedded within a brick-kiln with an angular roof and is ligatured to a tree. Hieroglyph: kuTi 'tree' rebus: kuThi 'smelter'. In this composition, the artists is depicting the smelter used for smelting to create mũh 'face' (Hindi) rebus: mũhe 'ingot' (Santali) of mēḍha 'stake' rebus: meḍ 'iron, metal' (Ho. Munda). मेड (p. 662) [ mēḍa ] f (Usually मेढ q. v.) मेडका m A stake, esp. as bifurcated. मेढ (p. 662) [ mēḍha ] f A forked stake. Used as a post. Hence a short post generally whether forked or not. मेढा (p. 665) [ mēḍhā ] m A stake, esp. as forked. 2 A dense arrangement of stakes, a palisade, a paling. मेढी (p. 665) [ mēḍhī ] f (Dim. of मेढ) A small bifurcated stake: also a small stake, with or without furcation, used as a post to support a cross piece. मेढ्या (p. 665) [ mēḍhyā ] a (मेढ Stake or post.) A term for a person considered as the pillar, prop, or support (of a household, army, or other body), the staff or stay. मेढेजोशी (p. 665) [ mēḍhējōśī ] m A stake-जोशी; a जोशी who keeps account of the तिथि &c., by driving stakes into the ground: also a class, or an individual of it, of fortune-tellers, diviners, presagers, seasonannouncers, almanack-makers &c. They are Shúdras and followers of the मेढेमत q. v. 2 Jocosely. The hereditary or settled (quasi fixed as a stake) जोशी of a village.मेंधला (p. 665) [ mēndhalā ] m In architecture. A common term for the two upper arms of a double चौकठ (door-frame) connecting the two. Called also मेंढरी & घोडा. It answers to छिली the name of the two lower arms or connections. (Marathi)![]()
Relief with Ekamukha linga. Mathura. 1st cent. CE shows a gaNa, dwarf with tuft of hair in front, a unique tradition followed by Dikshitar in Chidambaram. The gaNa is next to the smelter kuTi 'tree' Rebus: kuThi 'smelter' which is identified by the ekamukha sivalinga. mũh 'face' (Hindi) rebus: mũhe 'ingot' (Santali) mũhã̄ = the quantity of iron produced at one time in a native smelting furnace of the Kolhes; iron produced by the Kolhes and formed like a four-cornered piece a little pointed at each end; mūhā mẽṛhẽt = iron smelted by the Kolhes and formed into an equilateral lump a little pointed at each of four ends;kolhe tehen mẽṛhẽt ko mūhā akata = the Kolhes have to-day produced pig iron (Santali). kharva is a dwarf; kharva is a nidhi of Kubera. karba'iron' (Tulu) http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2015/09/indus-script-corpora-muha-metal-from.html![]()
![]()
Worship of linga by Gandharva, Shunga period (ca. 2nd cent. BCE), ACCN 3625, Mathura Museum. Worship signified by dwarfs, Gaṇa (hence Gaṇeśa = Gaṇa + īśa).
A tree associated with smelter and linga from Bhuteshwar, Mathura Museum.
Architectural fragment with relief showing winged dwarfs (or gaNa) worshipping with flower garlands, Siva Linga. Bhuteshwar, ca. 2nd cent BCE. Lingam is on a platform with wall under a pipal tree encircled by railing. (Srivastava, AK, 1999, Catalogue of Saiva sculptures in Government Museum, Mathura: 47, GMM 52.3625) The tree is a phonetic determinant of the smelter indicated by the railing around the linga: kuṭa, °ṭi -- , °ṭha -- 3, °ṭhi -- m. ʻ tree ʼ Rebus: kuṭhi 'smelter'. kuṭa, °ṭi -- , °ṭha -- 3, °ṭhi -- m. ʻ tree ʼ lex., °ṭaka -- m. ʻ a kind of tree ʼ Kauś.Pk. kuḍa -- m. ʻ tree ʼ; Paš. lauṛ. kuṛāˊ ʻ tree ʼ, dar. kaṛék ʻ tree, oak ʼ ~ Par. kōṛ ʻ stick ʼ IIFL iii 3, 98. (CDIAL 3228).
In Atharva Veda stambha is a celestial scaffold, supporting the cosmos and material creation.
Archaeological finds: cylindrical stele in Kalibangan, a pair of polished stone pillars in Dholavira, s'ivalinga in Harappa, Kalibangan
यष्टि 1 [p=840,3] f. (for 2. » [p= 848,3]) sacrificing Pa1n2. 3-3 , 110 Sch. (prob. w.r. for इष्टि).यष्टि 2 [p=848,3]n. (only L. )or f. (also यष्टी cf. g. बह्व्-ादि ; prob. fr. √ यछ् = यम् ; for 1. यष्टि » [p=840,3]) " any support " , a staff , stick , wand , rod , mace , club , cudgel; pole , pillar , perch S3Br. &c; a flag-staff (» ध्वज-य्°; a stalk , stem , branch , twig Hariv. Ka1v.
ஈட்டி īṭṭi, n. cf. yaṣṭi. [T. īṭe, K. īṭi, M. īṭṭi.] 1. Lance, spear, pike; குந்தம். செறியிலை யீட்டியும் (பரிபா. 5, 66). 2. Black wood. See தோதகத்தி. (L.)
इष्टि 1 [p=169,1] f. impulse , acceleration , hurry; despatch RV.f. seeking , going after RV.f. sacrificing , sacrifice.
ఇటిక (p. 0134) [ iṭika ] or ఇటికె or ఇటుక iṭika. [Tel.] n. Brick. ఇటికెలు కోయు or ఇటుకచేయు to make bricks. వెయ్యి యిటుక కాల్చిరి they burnt 1000 bricks. ఇష్టక (p. 0141) [ iṣṭaka ] ishṭaka. [Skt. derived from ఇటుక.] n. A brick. ఇటుక రాయి.इष्टका [p= 169,3] f. a brick in general; a brick used in building the sacrificial altar VS. AitBr. S3Br. Ka1tyS3r.Mr2icch. &c (Monier-Williams); iṣṭakā इष्टका [इष्-तकन् टाप् Uṇ.3.148] 1 A brick; Mk.3. -2 A brick used in preparing the sacrificial altar &c. लोकादिमग्निं तमुवाच तस्मै या इष्टकी यावतार्वा यथा वा Kaṭh.1.15. -Comp. -गृहम् a brick-house. -चयनम् collecting fire by means of a brick. -चित a. made of bricks; Dk.84; also इष्टकचित; cf. P.VI.3.35. -न्यासः laying the founda- tion of a house. -पथः a road made of bricks. -मात्रा size of the bricks. -राशिः a pile of bricks.इष्टिका iṣṭikā इष्टिका A brick &c.; see इष्टका. (Apte. Samskritam) íṣṭakā f. ʻ brick ʼ VS., iṣṭikā -- f. MBh., iṣṭā -- f. BHSk. [Av. ištya -- n. Mayrhofer EWA i 94 and 557 with lit. <-> Pk. has disyllabic iṭṭā -- and no aspiration like most Ind. lggs.]
Pa. iṭṭhakā -- f. ʻ burnt brick ʼ, Pk. iṭṭagā -- , iṭṭā -- f.; Kho. uṣṭū ʻ sun -- dried brick, large clod of earth ʼ (→ Phal.iṣṭūˊ m. NOPhal 27); L. iṭṭ, pl. iṭṭã f. ʻ brick ʼ, P. iṭṭ f., N. ĩṭ, A. iṭā, B. iṭ, ĩṭ, Or. iṭā, Bi. ī˜ṭ, ī˜ṭā, Mth. ī˜ṭā, Bhoj.ī˜ṭi, H. ī˜ṭh, īṭ, ī˜ṭ, īṭā f., G. ĩṭi f., M. īṭ, vīṭ f., Ko. īṭ f. -- Deriv. Pk. iṭṭāla -- n. ʻ piece of brick ʼ; B. iṭāl, °al ʻ brick ʼ, M. iṭhāḷ f. ʻ a piece of brick heated red over which buttermilk is poured to be flavoured ʼ. -- Si. uḷu ʻ tile ʼ seeuṭa -- .
*iṣṭakālaya -- .Addenda: íṣṭakā -- : S.kcch. eṭṭ f. ʻ brick ʼ, Garh. ī˜ṭ; -- Md. īṭ ʻ tile ʼ ← Ind. (cf. H. M. īṭ).*iṣṭakālaya ʻ brick -- mould ʼ. [íṣṭakā -- , ālaya -- ]
M. iṭāḷẽ n. (CDIAL 1600, 1601)
shrI-sUktam of Rigveda explains the purport of the yaSTi to signify a baton of divine authority:
ArdrAm yaHkariNIm yaShTim suvarNAm padmamAlinIm |
sUryAm hiraNmayIm lakSmIm jAtavedo ma Avaha || 14
Trans. Oh, Ritual-fire, I pray you to invite shrI-devi to me, an alter-ego of everyone, who makes the environ holy let alone worship-environ, wielder of a baton symbolizing divine authority, brilliant in her hue, adorned with golden garlands, motivator of everybody to their respective duties like dawning sun, and who is manifestly self-resplendent in her mien.
Indus Script Corpora and archaeological excavations of 'fir-altars' provide evidence for continuity of Vedic religion of fire-worship in many sites of Sarasvati-Sindhu civilization.
The metalwork catalogues of deciphered Indus Script Corpora are consistent with the fire-altars found in almost every single site of the civilization consistent with the documentation of yajña, fire-worship, in ancient texts of the Veda. The continuity of Vedic religion, veneration of Ruda-Siva among Bronze Age Bhāratam Janam, 'metalcaster folk' is firmly anchored.
kole.l signified 'smithy'. The same word kole.l also signified ' temple' (Kota)
In Hindu civilization tradition, yupa associated with smelter/furnace operations in fire-altars as evidenced in Bijnor, Kalibangan, Lothal and in many yupa pillars of Rajasthan of the historical periods, assume the aniconic form of linga venerated as Jyotirlinga, fierly pillars of light.
![]()
A 10th-century four-headed stone lingam (Mukhalinga) from Nepal. The 'mukha' or face on the linga is a hieroglyph read rebus muh 'ingot'. Hieroglyph: mũh 'face' (Hindi) rebus: mũhe 'ingot' (Santali) mũhã̄ = the quantity of iron produced at one time in a native smelting furnace of the Kolhes; iron produced by the Kolhes and formed like a four-cornered piece a little pointed at each end; mūhā mẽṛhẽt = iron smelted by the Kolhes and formed into an equilateral lump a little pointed at each of four ends; kolhe tehen mẽṛhẽt ko mūhā akata = the Kolhes have to-day produced pig iron (Santali) muhA 'the quantity of iron produced at one time in a native smelting furnace' (Santali. Campbell)
"The worship of the lingam originated from the famous hymn in the Atharva-Veda Samhitâ sung in praise of the Yupa-Skambha, the sacrificial post. In that hymn, a description is found of the beginningless and endless Stambha or Skambha, and it is shown that the said Skambha is put in place of the eternal Brahman. Just as the Yajña (sacrificial) fire, its smoke, ashes, and flames, the Soma , and the ox that used to carry on its back the wood for the Vedic sacrifice gave place to the conceptions of the brightness of Shiva's body, his tawny matted hair, his blue throat, and the riding on the bull of the Shiva, the Yupa-Skambha gave place in time to the Shiva-Linga. In the text Linga Purana, the same hymn is expanded in the shape of stories, meant to establish the glory of the great Stambha and the superiority of Shiva as Mahadeva. Jyotirlinga means "The Radiant sign of The Almighty". The Jyotirlingas are mentioned in the Shiva Purana." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shiva
Sources: Harding, Elizabeth U. (1998). "God, the Father". Kali: The Black Goddess of Dakshineswar. Motilal Banarsidass. pp. 156–157
Vivekananda, Swami. "The Paris Congress of the History of Religions" The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda 4.
Chaturvedi, B. K. (2006), Shiv Purana (First ed.), New Delhi: Diamond Pocket Books (P) Ltd,
Pl. XXII B. Terracotta cake with incised figures on obverse and reverse, Harappan. On one side is a human figure wearing a head-dress having two horns and a plant in the centre; on the other side is an animal-headed human figure with another animal figure, the latter being dragged by the former.
Decipherment of hieroglyphs on the Kalibangan terracotta cake:
bhaTa 'warrior' rebus: bhaTa 'furnace'
kolmo 'rice plant' rebus: kolimi 'smithy, forge'
koD 'horn' rebus: koD 'workshop'
kola 'tiger' rebus: kolle 'blacksmith', kolhe 'smelter' kol 'working in iron'
Thus, the terracotta cake inscription signifies a iron workshop smelter/furnace and smithy.
The recording of an inscription on a terracotta cake used in a fire-altar continues as a tradition with inscriptions recorded on Yupa, 'pillars' of Rajasthan indicating the type of yajña's performed using those Yupa.
Binjor seal with Indus Script deciphered. Binjor attests Vedic River Sarasvati as a Himalayan navigable channel en route to Persian Gulf
![]()
The fire altar, with a yasti made of an octagonal brick. Photo:Subhash Chandel, ASI
Binjor (4MSR) seal.
Binjor Seal Text.
Fish + scales, aya ã̄s (amśu) ‘metallic stalks of stone ore’. Vikalpa: badhoṛ ‘a species of fish with many bones’ (Santali) Rebus: baḍhoe ‘a carpenter, worker in wood’; badhoria ‘expert in working in wood’(Santali)
gaNDa 'four' Rebus: khaNDa 'metal implements' Together with cognate ancu 'iron' the message is: native metal implements.
Thus, the hieroglyph multiplex reads: aya ancu khaNDa 'metallic iron alloy implements'.
koḍi ‘flag’ (Ta.)(DEDR 2049). Rebus 1: koḍ ‘workshop’ (Kuwi) Rebus 2: khŏḍ m. ‘pit’, khö̆ḍü f. ‘small pit’ (Kashmiri. CDIAL 3947)
The bird hieroglyph: karaḍa
करण्ड m. a sort of duck L. కారండవము (p. 0274) [ kāraṇḍavamu ] kāraṇḍavamu. [Skt.] n. A sort of duck. (Telugu) karaṭa1 m. ʻ crow ʼ BhP., °aka -- m. lex. [Cf. karaṭu -- , karkaṭu -- m. ʻ Numidian crane ʼ, karēṭu -- , °ēṭavya -- , °ēḍuka -- m. lex., karaṇḍa2 -- m. ʻ duck ʼ lex: see kāraṇḍava -- ]Pk. karaḍa -- m. ʻ crow ʼ, °ḍā -- f. ʻ a partic. kind of bird ʼ; S. karaṛa -- ḍhī˜gu m. ʻ a very large aquatic bird ʼ; L. karṛā m., °ṛī f. ʻ the common teal ʼ.(CDIAL 2787) Rebus: karaḍā 'hard alloy'
Thus, the text of Indus Script inscription on the Binjor Seal reads: 'metallic iron alloy implements, hard alloy workshop' PLUS
the hieroglyphs of one-horned young bull PLUS standard device in front read rebus:
kõda 'young bull, bull-calf' rebus: kõdā 'to turn in a lathe'; kōnda 'engraver, lapidary'; kundār 'turner'.
Hieroglyph: sãghāṛɔ 'lathe'.(Gujarati) Rebus: sangara 'proclamation.
Together, the message of the Binjor Seal with inscribed text is a proclamation, a metalwork catalogue (of) 'metallic iron alloy implements, hard alloy workshop'
![]()
Naga worshippers of fiery pillar, Amaravati stup Smithy is the temple of Bronze Age: stambha, thãbharā fiery pillar of light, Sivalinga. Rebus-metonymy layered Indus script cipher signifies: tamba, tã̄bṛā, tambira 'copper'
![Railing crossbar with monks worshiping a fiery pillar, a symbol of the Buddha, , Great Stupa of Amaravati]()
http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2015/05/smithy-is-temple-of-bronze-age-stambha_14.html
![]()
Railing crossbar with monks worshiping a fiery pillar, a symbol of the Buddha,
Yupa. Yupa from 4th century. Kutai Kingdom. Inscription in Samskritam.
Badwa Yupa. "It is one of the four places in Rajasthan where such inscribed stone pillars were erected during the third century CE. which signifies the revival of the Vedic religion. The Badva stone pillar inscription informs that the Maukharis performed a triratra sacrifice in CE. 239. It is probable that these Maukharis owed allegiance to the Malava Republic. Four pillars have been shifted to the State Archaeology Museum at Kota and only one remains at the site." http://asijaipurcircle.com/badva_baran.php#
"
![2004092]()
![[prasati%2520mulawarman%255B3%255D.jpg]]()
praśasti प्रशस्ति Yūpa यूप Indonesia:
kuṇḍuṅgasya mahātmanaḥ;
putro śvavarmmo vikhyātah;
vaṅśakarttā yathāṅśumān;
tasya putrā mahātmānaḥ;
trayas traya ivāgnayaḥ;
teṣān trayāṇām pravaraḥ;
tapo-bala-damānvitaḥ;
śrī mūlavarmmā rājendro;
yaṣṭvā bahusuvarṇnakam;
tasya yajñasya yūpo ‘yam;
dvijendrais samprakalpitaḥ.
Yupa Inscriptions The Kutei Stone
Yupa posts in Pallava script from Kutai
Place of Publication: Jakarta
Publisher URL: http://www.lontar.org
Created: 2013
Source Rights: National Museum, Indonesia
Medium: Stone
![]()
Yupa inscription in Pallava script
YUPA PILLARS IN BICHPURIA TEMPLE
"The inscribed stone is a sacrificial pillar, commemorating revival of the rituals during third century A.D. by the Malava Republic. The inscription records the erection of the pillar by Ahisarman, son of Dharaka who was Agnihotri. Ahisarman seems to be a Malava chief.."
“…Malavas, Yaudheyas, Arjunayanas, Rajanyas etc...seem to have been patrons of Vedic sacrifices and rituals. Rajasthan witnessed the revival of Vedic religion under these people in the early centuries of the Common era and thus it was natural to get the largest number of inscribed yupa pillars (sacrificial posts) in various parts of Rajasthan. Dr. Satya Prakash discovered as early as in 1952, a yupa pillar inscribed in Brahmi script and dated Krita (Vikram) Samvat 321 (CD 264) from the village Bichpuria near Nagar (district Tonk) which records the performance of some sacrifice (name not specified) by Dharaka, who is styled as agnihotri. He brought to light this important epigraph and edited the same (Maru Bharti, Pilani, Vol. I, No. 2, February 1953). Rajasthan has provided the largest number of yupa pillars in the country of SaSthi-rAtra sacrifice, two pillars (now in Amber Museum) from Barnala (Jaipur) dated v.s. 284 (CE 227) recording the installation of seven yupa pillars by Vardhana and the second dated v.s. 335 (CE 278) referring to the TrirAtra sacrifice, four yupa pillars from Badva (now in Kotah Museum) three of them of the Maukhari dynasty ruling the area. The three inscribed yupa pillars record the performance of TrirAtr yajñas by Balavardhana, Somadeva and Bala Singh, the three sons of the commander-in-chief of the Maukhari kings. Each of them gave one hundred cows in gift on the occasion and installed sacrificial posts. The undated pillar belongs to DhanutrAta of the same dynasty who is credited with the performance of the AstoyAma yajña and putting up a yupa pillar in commemoration thereof. Sri ViSNuvardhana, son of the celebrated Yas'ovarman, performed puNdarIka yajña in the Malava era 428 (CE 371) and installed a yupa pillar at Vijaigarh (Bayana in Bharatpur region). Dr. Prakash studied in detail these incontrovertible evidences in his interesting paper 'Yupa pillars of Rajasthan' (JRIHR, Vol. IV, No. 2, April-June 1968) and evaluated their contribution in Rajasthan Through the Ages (Vol. 1, Chapter IV, 1966).” (Sharma, RG, 'History and Culture' in: Vijai Shankar Srivastava, ed., Abhinav Publications, 1981, Cultural Contours of India: Dr Satya Prakash Felicitation Volume, pp.81-82).
“The new light that the excavations at Kalibangan have shed on the religious aspects are discovery of the 'fire-places' and the terracotta cakes...The oval fire pits were observed as early as 1960-61, but these could not be then properly understood. Their importance was realised in the subsequent field-seasons. The occurrence of oval, round or rectangular 'fire-altars' has been observed on all the three mounds at Kalibangan in the Harappan context. On the western mound (KLB-1) over a platform was found a rectangular 'fire-altar' of baked bricks. It contained the 'bones of a bovine and antlers, representing perhaps a sacrifice'. Atop another platform were unearthed a row of seven rectangular mud enclosures with varying sizes approximately 50x45 cm, with walls about 10 cm high from the ground surface. These lay by the side of a well. In the centre of each enclosure was placed a cylindrical terracotta phallus-like object. 'The remains of th fire are indicated by ash. The walls of these enclosures are also burnt. All these 'fire-altars' were situated in a room. In the 'city mound' (KLB-2) a room almost in every house contained such fire-altars and they continued to occur in successive levels (Pl. XX, A in Ind. Arch. 1963-64—A review). A shallow pit, oval or rectangular in shape was first excavated. In this pit fire was made and in the centre a cylindrical sun-dried or pre-fired rectangular block or baked brick was fixed. The presene of charcoal lumps suggest that the fire was 'put out in situ'. The occurrence of the triangular or circular terracotta cakes, in these 'fire-altars', suggests that these were used as offerings, baked or unbaked. About the 'fire-altars' found in the citadel-complex it has been suggested that these may have been used for ongregational rituals, whereas in the 'city mound' these were for the individuals. The low mound (KLB-3) towards the eas of the 'city mound', has laid bare very significant data about the religion. This mound is not a habitation site. Here the remains of a huge mud-brick structure, possibly enclosing a smaller one, have come to light. Within this inner structure are several 'fire-altars' containing terracotta cakes, ash and the cylindrical objects. The circumstantial and environmental evidences added together suggest that this low mound is exclusively of religious significance where a temporal edifice existed, which, however, stratigraphically has been equated with the Harappan habitational phase at the site. The cylindrical columns are rectangular, round or fluted. The complete specimens on average are 20-25 cm. High. The terracotta cakes of several forms have been found at the site. But as pointed out earlier only the triangular or discular types have been found in the 'fire-altars'. It may not be out of place to mention that both at Bara and Chandigarh, phallus-shaped rectangular but slightly tapering terracotta objects have been recovered. These, of course, have no association with 'fire-altars' or terracotta cakes. In the light of evidence from Kalibangan and Lothal, it may be surmised that they are aniconic representations of S'iva, as we have today. This tends to be a mutually corroborative phenomenon at these sites which are more or less contemporary. The triangular terracotta cakes had been reported from Mohenjodaro and Harappa. Their proper significance was evaded, for want of a convincing explanation, by a passing remark that these may have some ritualistic use. This glib remark has, of late, come true. On one side is a human figure wearing a head-dress having two horns and a plant in the centre; on the other side is an animal-headed human figure with another animal figure, the latter being dragged by the former. The horned head-gear reminds of the horned deity on the Mohenjodaro seal and the other motif seems to have little significance without the religious affiliation...The cylindrical objects in the 'fire-altars' found at Kalibangan may have been aniconic representation of S'iva. Their association with fire may suggest the earlier manifestation of Jyotirlinga. Agarwala has pointed out that Rudra himself is the Fire-God. He has further elucidated that water and fire are the two parents of the universe – water being the female and fire the male form respectively. It is very interesting to note that in such 'fire-altars' lumps of charcoal have been discovered which are the outcome of the putting out in situ of the blazing embers. It is difficult to deny that these burning pieces of charcoal were extinguished with the use of water as a part of the ritual. If this is true, then we have at Kalibangan the elements of Purusha and Prakriti. As shown by Agarwala, with which the present writer concurs, the cylindrical objects and fire represent the male element (what in later days is reognised as Jyotirlinga) and water represents the female element. This also explains the absense of the terracotta female figurines representing the earth or mother-goddess at Kalibangan, Banawali (Haryana) and Lothal (Gujarat). At both Kalibangan and Lothal, the 'fire-altrs' with their contents described above have been found. Broadly speaking the religious beliefs of the Harappans through both time and space do not differ much as revealed by their homogeneous remains. But local variations did exist as discussed above. Certain new features have also come to light regarding the funerary customs both at Kalibangan and Lothal, which differ from those at other sites. It seems the strong strains of local elements could not be subduded and were rather adopted by the Harappans.” (JS Nigam, 'The religion of the Harapans in Rajasthan' in: Vijai Shankar Srivastava, ed., Abhinav Publications, 1981, Cultural Contours of India: Dr Satya Prakash Felicitation Volume, p.33-34).
![]()
Kalibangan. Fire-altar with stele 'linga' and terracotta cakes. Plate XXA. "Within one of the rooms of amost each house was found the curious 'fire-altar', sometimes also in successive levels, indicating their recurrent function." (p.31)
Shahr-i Sokhta, terracotta cakes, Periods II and III, I, MAI 1026 (front and rear); 2. MAI 376 (front and rear); 3. MAI 9794 (3a, photograph of front and read; 3b, drawing -- After Fig. 12 in E. Cortesi et al. 2008)
![]()
Inventory of terracotta cakes Shahr-i Sokhta. After Salvatori and Vidale, 1997-79. Table 1 in E. Cortesi et al. 2008)
![]()
Number nd percentages of terracotta cakes found t Shahr-i Sokhta, total 31. (After Table 2 in E. Cortesi et al. 2008).
"Terracotta cakes. Variously called 'terracotta tablets', 'triangular plaques' or 'triangular terracotta cakes' these artifacts (fig. 12, tables 2 and 3), made of coarse chaff-tempered clay, are a very common find in several protohistoric sites of the Subcontinent from the late Regionalization Era (2800-2600 BCE) to the Localization Er (1900-1700 BCE). In this latter time0-span they frequently assume irregular round shapes, to finally retain the form of a lump of clay squeezed in the hand. Despite abudant and often unnecessary speculation, archaeological evidence demonstrates tht they were used in pyrotechnological activities, both in domestic and industrial contexts. The most likely hypothesis is tht these objets, in the common kitchen areas, were heated to boil water, and used as kiln setters in other contexts. Shahr-i Sokhta is the only site in the eastern Iranian plateau where such terracotta cakes, triangular or more rarely rectangular, are found in great quantity. Their use, perhaps by families or individuals having special ties with the Indus region, might have been part of simple domestic activities, but this conclusion is questioned by the fact that several terracotta cakes, at Shahr-i Sokhta, bear stamp seal impressions or other graphic signs (in more than 30% of the total cases). In many cases the actual impressions are poorly preserved, and require detailed study. Perhaps these objects used in some form of administrative practice. Although many specimens are fired or burnt, a small percentge of the 'cakes' found at Shahr-i Sokhta is unfired (table 2). On the other hand, their modification in the frame of one or more unknown semantic contexts is not unknown in the Indus valley. At Kalibangan (Haryana, India), for example, two terracotta cake fragments respectively bear a cluster of signs of the Indus writing system and a possible scene of animal sacrifice in front of a possible divinity. While a terracotta cake found at Chanhu-Daro (Sindh, Pakistan) bears a star-like design, anothr has three central depressions. The most important group of incised terracotta cakes comes from Lothal, where the record includes specimens with vertical strokes, central depressions, a V-shaped sign, a triangle, and a cross-like sign identical to those found at Shahr-i Sokhta. Tables 2 and 3 shows a complete inventory of these objects (most so far unpublished), their provenience and proposed dating, and finally summarize their frequencies across the Shahr-i Sokhta sequence. The data suggest that terracotta cakes are absent from Period I. This might be due to the very small amount of excavated deposits in the earliest settlement layers, but the almost total absence of terracotta cakes in layers dtable to phases 8-7, exposed in some extension both in the Eastern Residential Area and in the Centrl Quarter, is remarkable. The majority of the finds belong to Period II, phases 6 and 5 (mount together to about 60% of the cases). As the amount of sediments investigated for Period III in the settlement areas, for various reasons, is much less than what was done for Period II, the percentage of about 40% obtained for Period III (which, we believe, dates to the second hald of the 3rd millennium BCE) actually demonstrates that the use of terracotta cakes at Shahr-i Sokht continued to increase." (E. Cortesi, M. Tosi, A. Lazzari and M. Vidale, 2008, Cultural relationships beyond the Iranian plateau: the Helmand Civilization, Baluchistan and the Indus Valley in the 3rd millennium, pp. 17-18)
![]()
Indus terracotta nodules. Source: "Terra cotta nodules and cakes of different shapes are common at most Indus sites. These objects appear to have been used in many different ways depending on their shape and size. The flat triangular and circular shaped cakes may have been heated and used for baking small triangular or circular shaped flat bread. The round and irregular shaped nodules have been found in cooking hearths and at the mouth of pottery kilns where they served as heat baffles. Broken and crushed nodule fragments were used instead of gravel for making a level foundation underneath brick walls."![]()
Terracotta cake. Mohenjo-daro Excavation Number: VS3646. Location of find: 1, I, 37 (near NE corner of the room)."People have many different ideas about how these triangular blocks of clay were used. One idea is that they were placed inside kilns to keep in the heat while objects were fired. Another idea is that they were heated in a fire or oven, then placed in pots to boil liquids." Source: http://www.ancientindia.co.uk/indus/explore/nvs_tcake.html
These terracotta cakes are like Ancient Near East tokens used for accounting, as elaborated by Denise Schmandt-Besserat in her pioneering researches.
The context in which an incised terracotta cake was found at Kalibangan is instructive. I suggest that terracotta cakes were tokens to count the ingots produced in a 'fire-altar' and crucibles, by metallurgists of Sarasvati civilization. This system of incising is found in scores of miniature incised tablets of Harappa, incised with Indus writing. Some of these tablets are shaped like bun ingots, some are triangular and some are shaped like fish. Each shape should have had some semantic significance, e.g., fish may have connoted ayo 'fish' as a glyph; read rebus: ayas 'metal (alloy)'. A horned person on the Kalibangan terracotta cake described herein might have connoted: kōṭu 'horn'; rebus: खोट khōṭa 'A mass of metal (unwrought or of old metal melted down); an ingot or wedge. Hence 2 A lump or solid bit'; खोटसाळ khōṭasāḷa 'Alloyed--a metal'(Marathi) A stake associated with the fire-altar was ढांगर [ ḍhāṅgara ] n 'A stout stake or stick as a prop to a Vine or scandent shrub]' (Marathi); rebus:ḍhaṅgar 'smith' (Maithili. Hindi)
![]()
Harppa. Two sides of a fish-shaped, incised tablet with Indus writing. Hundreds of inscribed texts on tablets are repetitions; it is, therefore, unlikely that hundreds of such inscribed tablets just contained the same ‘names’ composed of just five ‘alphabets’ or ‘syllables’, even after the direction of writing is firmed up as from right to left.
At Kalibangan, fire Vedic altars have been discovered, similar to those found at Lothal which S.R. Rao thinks could have served no other purpose than a ritualistic one.[18] These altars suggest fire worship or worship of Agni, the Hindu god of fire. It is the only Indus Valley Civilization site where there is no evidence to suggest the worship of the "mother goddess".
Within the fortified citadel complex, the southern half contained many (five or six) raised platforms of mud bricks, mutually separated by corridors. Stairs were attached to these platforms. Vandalism of these platforms by brick robbers makes it difficult to reconstruct the original shape of structures above them but unmistakable remnants of rectangular or oval kuṇḍas or fire-pits of burnt bricks for Vedi (altar)s have been found, with a yūpa or sacrificial post (cylindrical or with rectangular cross-section, sometimes bricks were laid upon each other to construct such a post) in the middle of each kuṇḍa and sacrificial terracotta cakes (piṇḍa) in all these fire-pits. Houses in the lower town also contain similar altars. Burnt charcoals have been found in these fire-pits. The structure of these fire-altars is reminiscent of (Vedic) fire-altars, but the analogy may be coincidental, and these altars are perhaps intended for some specific (perhaps religious) purpose by the community as a whole. In some fire-altars remnants of animals have been found, which suggest a possibility of animal-sacrifice." Source: Elements of Indian Archaeology (Bharatiya Puratatva,in Hindi) by Shri Krishna Ojha, published by Research Publications in Social Sciences, 2/44 Ansari Riad, Daryaganj, New Delhi-2, pp.119-120. (The fifth chapter summarizes the excavation report of Kalibangan in 11 pages).
Tu. kandůka, kandaka ditch, trench. Te. kandakamu id. Konḍa kanda trench made as a fireplace during weddings. Pe. kanda fire trench. Kui kanda small trench for fireplace. Malt. kandri a pit. (DEDR 1214)
Ka. kunda a pillar of bricks, etc. Tu. kunda pillar, post. Te. kunda id. Malt.
kunda block, log. ? Cf. Ta. kantu pillar, post. (DEDR 1723)
kándu f. ʻ iron pot ʼ Suśr., °uka -- m. ʻ saucepan ʼ.Pk. kaṁdu -- , kaṁḍu -- m.f. ʻ cooking pot ʼ; K. kō̃da f. ʻ potter's kiln, lime or brick kiln ʼ; -- ext. with -- ḍa -- : K. kã̄dur m. ʻ oven ʼ. -- Deriv. Pk.kaṁḍua -- ʻ sweetseller ʼ (< *kānduka -- ?); H. kã̄dū m. ʻ a caste that makes sweetmeats ʼ. (CDIAL 2726) *kandukara ʻ worker with pans ʼ. [kándu -- , kará -- 1]
K. kã̄dar, kã̄duru dat. °daris m. ʻ baker ʼ.(CDIAL 2728)
Rebus: khāṇḍā 'tools, pots and pans,metal-ware' (Marathi) H. lokhar m. ʻ iron tools, pots and pans ʼ; -- X lauhabhāṇḍa -- : Ku. lokhaṛ ʻ iron tools ʼ; H.lokhaṇḍ m. ʻ iron tools, pots and pans ʼ; G. lokhãḍ n. ʻ tools, iron, ironware ʼ; M. lokhãḍ n. ʻ iron ʼ (LM 400 < -- khaṇḍa -- ).(CDIAL 11171)
The fillet worn on the forehead and on the right-shoulder signifies one strand; while the trefoil on the shawl signifies three strands. A hieroglyph for two strands is also signified.
Single strand (one dotted-circle)
Two strands (pair of dotted-circles)
Three strands (three dotted-circles as a trefoil)
Tre-foil inlay decorated base (for linga icon?); smoothed, polished pedestal of dark red stone; National Museum of Pakistan, Karachi; After Mackay 1938: I, 411; II, pl. 107:35; Parpola, 1994, p. 218.
Two decorated bases and a lingam, Mohenjodaro.
Seal m0304
the new station at Bhalukpong awaits the only train from Dekargaon, the rail head for Tezpur. (Express Photo by: Dasarath Deka)
Station master B C Goswami at work. (Express Photo by: Dasarath Deka)
Nilima Basumatary sets up her stall at the station. (Express Photo by: Dasarath Deka)
Mohenjo-daro. m1457 Copper plate with 'twist' hieroglyph. 
![[prasati%2520mulawarman%255B3%255D.jpg]](http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-L7CZvk8_Iys/ToIb1RXc2QI/AAAAAAAAAR0/aPzxQNQq0Tg/s1600/prasati%252520mulawarman%25255B3%25255D.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
PMO India 
Rajnath Singh 
Map showing sites Kalibangan, Ganweriwala (not far from Binjor)
Clustering of the sites towards Ganga-Yamuna doab 3000 BP.
Toy animals made for the Pola festival especially celebrated by the Dhanoje Kunbis. (Bemrose, Colo. Derby - Russell, Robert Vane (1916). The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India: volume IV. Descriptive articles on the principal castes and tribes of the Central Provinces. London: Macmillan and Co., limited. p. 40).
Slippainted cylindrical jar. Kulli. 
Indus Valley Terracotta Vessel - LO.1329
S Gurumurthy 
inShare