One conclusion can be heralded or proclaimed like a sangara of many Indus Script inscriptions: the purport of Indus Script Corpora is to write-down, engrave information on such catalogues. Clearly, a writing system with representations in over 600 hieroglyphs was in place matching the advances in metallurgical repertoire of Meluhha artisans, who were referred by Visvamitra as Bhāratam Janam, 'metalcaster folk'. (RV 3.53.12) [भरत (p. 603) [ bharata ] n A factitious metal compounded of copper, pewter, tin &c.भरती (p. 603) [ bharatī ] a Composed of the metal भरत.भरताचें भांडें (p. 603) [ bharatācē mbhāṇḍēṃ ] n A vessel made of the metal भरत. 2 See भरिताचें भांडें. (Marathi)].

Cosmic dance of metal casting processes

Analogous to the hypertexts of Indus Script inscriptions which are signified by hieroglyph-multiplexes, the iconography of Siva as Cosmic Dancer, Nataraja, is an elaboration of the role performed by the Ekamukha Sivalinga adorning the smelter on Bhutesvar sculptural frieze; hieroglyph: mukha ‘face’ Rebus: muh ‘ingot’. Just as the Sivalinga exemplifies the creation of the ingot, the Cosmic Dancer is composed of hieroglyph components which explain the metal casting process. This hieroglyphic rebus-metonymy is explained by a Meluhha gloss: kole.l, a word in Kota language which means ‘smithy’. The same word also means ‘temple’. 

This rebus-metonymy Indus Script Cipher validates the conception of the the processes in a smithy replicated in a temple with garbha griha. This explains why utsava bera and other images in a Hindu temple have multiple arms carrying multiple hieroglyphs, weapons, implements.

The aureole of flames and the tongue of flame held in his left hand parallel the fire engulfing the dhatu, mineral ore elements in the smelter.

The cosmic rhythm signified by the damaru is the air blowing from the bellows delivering additional air to the fuel in the smelter or furnace or crucible, raising the rate of combustion of the metallic ores.

The circle of flames constituting an aureole of the Cosmic Dancer signifies the flames surrounding the iron more in the smelter or furnace.

The damaru held in the right hand of the Cosmic dancer signifies rebus डामर (p. 351) [ ḍāmara ] n ( H) Dammer, a resinous exudation from a tree of the Malabar coast. Used as tar or pitch. The ḍāmara resin is mixed with beeswax to form the replica of the the product of cast metal– as seen in the processes of making Aranmula kannadi (bronze mirror) or surface of Dong Son Bronze drums embedded with hieroglyphs such as kang ‘egret, heron’ Rebus: kang ‘brazier’.

The matted hairs signified by the hieroglyph of matted hair मेढा [ mēḍhā ] 'a curl or snarl; twist in thead' (Marathi) Rebus: mẽṛhẽt, meḍ‘iron’ (Mu.Ho.)

This replication of the act of creation in the smithy using a smelter or a furnace achieves the metal or metal alloy hard ingots out of mere earth and stones of minerals. This act of creation is also expanded to hold the waters from the heavens in the locks of hair of Kailasanatha who releases the Ganga by unfolding the matted hair, an extraordinary metaphor of another name for Siva, Gangadhara, the upholder of Ganga while in penance on the summit of Mt. Kailas in the Himalayas.

The Cosmic Dance of Nataraja in Chidambaram is in sacred space, the dhatugarbha (dagoba) or the kuThi 'smelter' tuned to the dance of Siva to achieve the transformation of dhatu into metal ingots and metal implements through cire perdue or other casting techniques.

Stone statue of Siva as Lingodbhava

Dancers are depicted as hieroglyphs on a tablet m0493 as shown below.

m0493Bt Pict-93: Three dancing figures in a row.Text 2843 

Glyph: Three dancers. Kolmo ‘three’; meD ‘to dance’ meD 'body' Rebus: kolimi 'smithy, forge' meD ‘iron’.

Sign 44 (this glyph could be compared with the orthography of three dancers in a row; the glyph is a ligature showing a 'dance step' and a rimless pot). Glyphs: meD 'dance' (Remo); rebus: meD 'iron'; bat.a 'pot'; bat.hi 'furnace'.

Rebus: mẽṛhẽt, meḍ 'iron' (Mu.Ho.) 

Santali glosses.

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)

http://www.ling.hawaii.edu/austroasiatic/AA/Munda/ETYM/Pinnow&Munda

— 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]

http://www.vanderkrogt.net/elements/element.php?sym=Cu 

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’.

Hieroglyph of a worshipper kneeling: Konḍa (BB) meḍa, meṇḍa id. Pe. menḍa 

id. Manḍ. menḍe id. Kui menḍa id. Kuwi (F.) menda, (S. Su. P.) menḍa, (Isr.) meṇḍa id.Ta. maṇṭi kneeling, kneeling on one knee as an archer. Ma.maṇṭuka to be seated on the heels. Ka. maṇḍi what is bent, the knee. Tu. maṇḍi knee. Te. maṇḍĭ̄ kneeling on one knee. Pa.maḍtel knee; maḍi kuḍtel kneeling position. Go. (L.) meṇḍā, (G. Mu. Ma.)  Cf. 4645 Ta.maṭaṅku (maṇi-forms). / ? Cf. Skt. maṇḍūkī- (DEDR 4677)

So, why a dancing girl? Because, depiction of a dance pose is a hieroglyph to represent what was contained in the pot. The glyph encodes the mleccha word for 'iron': med.

Glyph: meD 'to dance' (F.)[reduplicated from me-]; me id. (M.) in Remo (Munda)(Source: D. Stampe's Munda etyma) meṭṭu to tread, trample, crush under foot, tread or place the foot upon (Te.); meṭṭu step (Ga.); mettunga steps (Ga.). maḍye to trample, tread (Malt.)(DEDR 5057) మెట్టు (p. 1027) [ meṭṭu ] meṭṭu. [Tel.] v. a. &n. To step, walk, tread. అడుగుపెట్టు, నడుచు, త్రొక్కు. "మెల్ల మెల్లన మెట్టుచుదొలగి అల్లనల్లనతలుపులండకు జేరి." BD iv. 1523. To tread on, to trample on. To kick, to thrust with the foot.మెట్టిక meṭṭika. n. A step , మెట్టు, సోపానము (Telugu)

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2015/11/dance-step-med-in-indus-script.html?view=mosaic

Step 1. It is possible that worship of aniconic linga started ca. 2500 BCE. Divinity was visualised in the aniconic pillar of fire in the days of Sarasvati-Sindhu Civilization (ca. 2500 BCE), evidenced by the unique decorative features of stone sculptures of a linga and base and replication of some features such as trefoils on the shawl of a 'priest' statue, indicating reverence. 

Plate 1 Early Pallava stone sculpture of Nataraja, c, seventh century, Siyamangalam (photograph credits: French Institute of Pondicherry and Ecole Franc¸aise d’Extreˆme Orient, Pondicherry).

Plate 2 Natesa (acc. no. 53/38), Kuram, attributed to c. AD 650 by the author, Government Museum, Chennai (photograph credit: Government Museum, Chennai).

Plate 3 Nataraja (in stone), Kunniyur, Tanjavur district (acc. no. 752/75), attributed to Pallava period, c. AD 850 by author, Government Museum, Chennai (photograph credit: Government Museum, Chennai).

Plate 4 Nataraja, attributed to Pallava period, c. AD 800 by author, British Museum (acc. no. OA – 1969 – 12 – 16 – 1) (photograph credit: Trustees of the British Museum).

Plate 5 Nataraja (acc. no. 238), Kankoduvanithavam, c. AD 1040, Government Museum, Chennai (photograph credit: Sharada Srinivasan). Cosmic dancer symbolising cycles of creation and destruction.

Plate 6 Nataraja, Manavaleshvarar temple, Tiruvelvikudi, c. AD 949 – 57, in style of Chola queen Sembiyan Mahadevi (photograph credits: French Institute of Pondicherry and Ecole Franc¸aise d’Extreˆme Orient, Pondicherry).

"The following hymn of Manikkavachakar testifies that the Chidambaram Nataraja had, by the pre-Chola period, an abstract or ‘cosmic’ symbolism linked to the five elements including ether (Yocum 1983: 20). It also expresses his longing for mystical union with the transcendental, akin to the lover-beloved model of Bhakti worship:

Ah, When will I get to gaze upon the unique One to whom no other compares

Him who is fire, water, wind, earth and ether, Him whom others cannot understand. . .

With voice stammering,

a cataract of tears gushing forth, hands joined in worship

When will I adorn Him with fragrant flowers? When will I be united with my uncut Gem

The dance of bliss, dance of the lord and devotees

The Pallava Nataraja icons and stone and metal discussed (especially Plate 1 and Plate 3), suggest the notion of Nataraja’s blissful dance with an unmistakable attitude or smile of puckish delight that contrasts with the gravitas of Siva dancing as Natesa (in chatura pose) from Badami or Ellora (Sivaramamurti 1974: figs 12, 17). This could suggest that the anandatandava or dance of bliss represented not just a di erent mode of dance but a philosophy unique to the Pallava domain. Zvelebil (1985) and Yocum (1983: 31) respectively speculated that the Nataraja cult and Manikkavachakar’s devotional experience as hysterical bliss drew from older practices reflected in Tamil Sangam literature (c. fifth century BC to fifth century AD), such as the ecstatic kavadi dances and possession (veriyatal) linked to the cult of Murugan/Velan, and the Tamil folk deity with the trident or vel. Rajaraja Chola’s Brhadisvara temple (c. AD 985 – 1014) had hundreds of dancing girls or devadasis attached to it with the 108 sculpted karana reliefs indicating their role in invoking Siva’s anandatandava. Interestingly, an earlier verse by Manikkavacha-kar (Yocum 1983: 30) reveals that, even for the Saiva Siddhanta ascetic and devotee, such bliss could be experienced by breaking into dance:

He. . .revealed His foot which is like a tender flower, caused me to dance

entered my innermost part (akam) became my Lord.

‘Or unarve’, the one consciousness: views of the mystic and the monist

The thirteenth-century Saiva Siddhantic text, Kunchitangrim Bhaje by Umapati of Chidambaram, describes Nataraja as sacchidananda or ‘Being, Consciousness and Bliss’ (Smith 1998: 21). This approaches the doctrine of Advaita, or abstract monism, expounded by celebrated south Indian philosopher-saint Sankaracharya, which holds the individual (jivatman) and supreme soul/consciousness (paramatman) to be one. Although Sankara, who lived around AD 788 – 820, set up a monastery at the Pallava bastion of Kanchipuram and knew of Saiva Siddhanta worshippers of Chidambaram, there is no evidence for his influence at Chidambaram before the thirteenth – fourteenth century (Davis 2000: 14; Younger 1995: 112, 223). However, an earlier hymn to Nataraja by Manikkavachakar (Yocum 1983: 24), indicated below, clearly identifies him with the unitary supreme consciousness, by using the Tamil word ‘Or unarve’ rather than the Sanskrit ‘chit’.O unique consciousness (or unarve),which is realised (unarvatu) as standing firm,transcending words and (ordinary) consciousness (unarvu), O let me know a way to tell of You. (22: 3)

It is thus tempting to speculate about an osmosis of ideas, in whichever direction, between the mystic Manikkavachakar and monist Sankara or their followers.Processional icons of dancing Siva and the Nataraja worshipped at Chidambaram until Mahendravarman Pallavan’s time (c. AD 600 – 30) were probably of wood. A switch to metal processional icons was made by at least Paramesvaravarman I’s time (c. AD 650) from the Kuram copper plate and dates from archaeometallurgical finger-printing for the Siva Natesa from Kuram (Plate 2), while Appar’s seventh-century verses leave open the possibility of the worship of a Siva Nataraja bronze at Chidambaram. Finger-printing supports a Pallava attribution, c. AD 800 – 50, for two Nataraja bronzes (Plates 3 and 4), fitting dates for Dantivarman Pallava under whom karanas of Siva’s anandatandava were sculpted at Bahur. This coincides not only with dates for Manikkavachakar’s mystical hymns, evoking Nataraja as the elements and the one consciousness (Tamil: ‘or unarve’), but also for Sankara, c. AD 800, whose monistic doctrines might also have had a bearing. Setting aside the odd flattish stone frieze, sizeable well-rounded stone Natarajas emerged later than the metal icon, and specifically under the reign of Chola queen Sembiyan Mahadevi (c. AD 950)."

http://dhinakarrajaram.blogspot.in/2011/10/shiva-as-cosmic-dancer-on-pallava.html

The GarbhagRha or sanctum sanctorum of the tempe at Elephant (ca. 8th century CE) shows the aniconic pillar of fire. "Many forms of worship are offered to the Siva linga such as sprinkling the stone with water, offerings of flowers, food, cloth, and incense.  Also, the linga is often anointed by smearing the stone with various substances such as vermilion paint or dry red kunkum (sindhur) powder." 

http://www.gaianxaos.com/shivaya.htm

"Here at Brihadeshwara, along its south wall we see Siva in the chatura pose. The chatura pose is that where the right leg is firmly placed on the apasmarapurusha (ignorance) and the left leg is raised half way into the air shortly before being stretched out as the nataraja tandava pose. Siva wears a jatamukuta and holds the crecent moon and ganges in his hair! In this sculpture he is seen holding a trident as one of his many attributes. "http://indiatemple.blogspot.in/2004_12_01_archive.html

The tractus in stambha sukta in Atharva Veda, sees the Yupa 'post' as beginning-less and end-less Stambha orSkambha and describes the form as a representation for the eternal Brahman.Linga Purana expands the explanatory note extolling the supreme nature of the stambha and hence, of Mahâdeva, as supreme divinity. 

Siva Purana describes in its first section, the Vidyeshwar Samhita, the origin of the lingam, known as Siva-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). Samskritam: लिङ्गं, liṅgaṃ, meaning "mark", "sign", or "inference".

Step 2. The pillar of fire was visualised as a lingam.  Worship of a lingam at Parasurameswara Swamy temple in Gudimallam dates back to ca.100 BCE. (Klaus Klostermaier, A Survey of Hinduism 2007 SUNY Press p. 111).

Darasuram. Siva emerges out of the linga. Brahma searches for the ending of the pillar in heaven, Vishnu searches for the beginning of the pillar on the earth, underground. The medtaphor of a beginningless, endless pillar of light, pillar of fire, sivalinga as described in the Skambha Sukta. An unceasing enquiry of the cosmic dancer, Mahesvara.

http:/upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c8/Lingothbhavar.jpg/220px-Lingothbhavar.jpg Image of Lingodbhava in the Airavatesvara Temple at Darasuram, 10th century CE

Image of Lingodbhava in the Airavatesvara Temple at Darasuram, 10th century CE

Siva Lingodbhavamurti, Shiva apperaing in the falming linga, Tamil Nadu, Chola period, 12th-13th century, basalt. Musee Guimet.mg07 100112181 j r 

Shiva, Lingodbhava Story (Cave 16 Ellora)
Lingodbhava, the god rappers as a pillar of fire in the ocean; Brahma and Vishanu search for a beginning and Shiva for its beginning and end.

Shiva the god as cosmic dancer.

Chola dynasty, around AD 900. British Museum Asia OA 1955.10-18.1 Ht. 138 cm.  "The iconography is explained by a narrative of competition for status among the gods. Brahma and Vishnu were arguing over who was the most powerful, when a huge shaft of fire appeared between them, that appeared to have no top or bottom. They went to investigate. Vishnu in his boar incarnation dug down into the earth, seen at the base of the sculpture. Meanwhile, Brahma flew into the sky on his vehicle, the Hamsa bird, seen at the top. When neither could find either top or bottom they realized that the column of fire was more powerful than either of them. Its identity was revealed to them when Siva appeared out of the shaft, and they bowed down to Siva as the most powerful deity. Siva stands in an oval of flames wearing a tall crown and holding his distinctive attributes, the deer and axe. This image combines the aniconic form of Siva as a linga with the human image of the god with multiple arms, such as Nataraja or Dakshinamurti. Images of Lingodbhava are popular in Tamil Nadu and Shaiva temples normally have an image of this deity on the exterior of the rear or west wall of the main sanctum."

From Tamil Nadu, India

Lingobhava Siva: God Siva appears as in an infinite Linga fire-pillar, as Vishnu as Varaha tries to find the bottom of the Linga while Brahma tries to find its top. This infinite pillar conveys the infinite nature of Siva. (Blurton, T. R. (1992). "Stone statue of Siva as Lingodbhava". Extract from Hindu art (London, The British Museum Press). British Museum site.)

Some scholars have advanced erroneous arguments suggesting non-Aryan phallus worship to explain the traditions of linga worship. Such arguments run counter to the references to jyotirlinga temples for worship of Sivalinga as fiery pillar of light as detailed in the Atharva Veda Skambha Sukta. Archaeological evidence, iconograhic evidence from scores of temples and evidence from Indus Script cipher  to decipher the Candi Suku Sivalinga are presented to counter such fallacious arguments.

The chronology of Hindu tradition from the days of Atharva Veda is that iconic form of Mahesvara Siva emerges out of the aniconic Skambha (linga) or pillar of light and fire. What we find in the seven Sivalingas of Harappa is the aniconic form. Sivalinga appeared as a flame. Brahma, as hamsa, searches for the end in the heavens. Vishnu, as Varaha, searches for the beginning in the bowels of the earth. This Lingodbhava narrative is in many Puranas. 

Appar, Shaiva saint of the 7th century, provides a similar narrative for this Lingodbhava. Tirugnana Sambandar refers to Brahma and Vishnu who set out on a search and comprehend Siva as the nature of light. 

I submit that the most abiding form of worship is that which is displayed architecurally in Amaravati where Naga venerate the Skambha, the fiery pillar of light with the adornment of Srivatsa as the capital. The Srivatsa is a Indus Script hieroglyph of a pair of fish-tails: dula 'pair' Rebus: dul 'cast metal'  Kur. xolā tail. Malt. qoli id. (DEDR 2135) The hooded snake which adorns as headgear is also read rebus: kula 'hooded snake' M. khoḷ f. ʻ hooded cloak ʼ(CDIAL 3942) A. kulā ʻ winnowing fan, hood of a snake ʼ(CDIAL 3350) Rebus: kol 'working in iron' kolle 'blacksmith' kolhe 'smelters'. 

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' 


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,

The iconographic signifiers of linga are consistent with the early semantics of linga which relate to: लिङ्ग[p= 901,3] n. (once m. in Nr2isUp.;  ifc. f(आ)., f(ई). 

only in विष्णु-लिङ्गी ; prob. fr. √ लग् ; cf. लक्ष , लक्षण) a mark , spot , sign , token , badge , emblem , characteristic (ifc. = तल्-लिङ्ग , " having anything for a mark or sign ") Up. MBh. &c. Linga as meaning 'organ of generation' occurs in Mn. Hariv. Pur. &c. The context of Atharva Veda Skambha Sukta is NOT in reference to linga but as a pillar of light, jyotis or a लक्षण of light or fire. The linga as an Indus Script hieroglyph has been explained in the context of Candi Suku iconography of four balls at the tip of a 6 ft. tall linga as a cipher for lokhāṇḍā, 'metal tools, pots and pans of copper'.

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2015/09/bronze-age-lokhnda-metal-tools-pots.html Some scholars cite RV 7.21.5 and RV 10.99.3 references to s'is'nadeva as a reference to 'phallus worshippers'. This view is in error and will be explained based on Sayana's translations of the Rigvedic rica-s.

RV 7.021.05 Let not th ra_ks.asas, Indra, do us harm; let not the evil spirits do harm to our progeny, most powerful (Indra); let the sovereign lord, (Indra), exert himself (in the restraint) of disorderly beings, so that the unchaste may not disturb our rite. [Let not the ra_ks.asas: na vandana vedyabhih = vandana_ni, ra_ks.a_m.si, prajabhyah; the unchaste: s'is'nadevah, abrahmacharya ityarthah (Yaska 4.19)].

RV 10.099.03 Going to the battle, marching with easy gait, desiring the spoil, he set himself to the acquisition of all (wealth). Invincible, destroying the licentious, he won by his prowess whatever wealth (was concealed in the city) with the hundred gates. [s'is'nadeva_n is a tatpurus.a compound; hence, the meaning would perhaps be: incontinent or licentious]. 

Gopinatha Rao erroneously interprets s'is'na as non-aryans, phallus-worshippers "The worship of the Phallus which the non-Aryans of India shared with other nations who inhabited on the borders of the Mediterranean sea, has survived in India to this day. The Dhruvaberas in all Siva temples is the Linga surmounted upon the Yoni or the piNDika (pedestal). It is only in very rare instances we meet with the anthropomorphic representations of Siva set up as the principal deity in Siva temples. This non-Aryan phallic emblem seems to have been identified at a later period with Skambha of the Vedas, wherein Skambha is conceived as co-extensive with the universe and comprehends in him the various parts of the material universe, as also the abstract qualities, such as tapas, faith, truth and divisions of time. He is distinct from Prajapati, who founds the universe upon him...The gods who form part of him do homage to him."(pp.55-56 opcit.)  This interpretation is based on the meaning given to s'is'na: शिश्न [p= 1076,3] m. n. (cf. शिशन् ; said to be fr. √ श्नथ् , " to pierce ") a tail , (esp.) the male generative organRV. &c.

Gopinatha Rao has erred because, following Yaska, Sayana interprets s'is'nadeva of both these ricas as unchaste men. Durgacharya also applies the word to those who dally carnally with prostitutes, forsaking Vedic observances. The veneration of Skambha an aniconic form of Mahesvara is NOT related to Skambha as a शिश्न  but the jyotirlinga, the pillar of fire and light as the primordial explanation for the phenomena of the Universe like an axis Mundi linking earth and heaven. 

'Skambha in the beginning shed forth that gold (hiraNya, out of which HiraNyagarbha arose) in the midst of the world.' This passage in the Skambha Sukta of Atharva Veda DOES NOT 'pour forth his golden seen in begetting Prajapati' as interpreted wrongly by Gopinatha Rao but explains the term HiraNyagarbha in relation to Skambha. The word vetasa used in the Sukta refers to a reed and NOT to a membrum virile, vetasa does NOT refer to an identity of the Linga, as wrongly interpreted by Gopinatha Rao who further adds: "At a later time a sort of philosophical clothing is given to the primitive Linga: by a section of scholars the LInga and its pedestal are viewed, with some justification, as the representation of the araNis, the two pieces of wood which were rubbed together by the Vedic Indian in making fire." I submit that this view of Gopinatha Rao is speculative with no basis in philology or tradition. Skambha is a pillar of light and fire and hence, the appellation Jyotirlinga given to the 12 holy sites of Siva temples in ancient India.

Siva as Lingodbhava Murti. c. 900 CE. Height: 138 cm (54.3 in). British Museum. Asia OA 1955.10-18.1

Lingodbhava. Early Chola. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4422848

Siva as Lingodbhava, with Vishnu worshipping him. Thanjavur Brihadeesvara Temple

A second century BCE Lingodbhava cult of Lord Shiva, Gudimallam Chittoor district

Rajasimhesvara (Kailasanatha) Temple: ca. 730. West wall: Lingodbhava (Shiva emerging from the linga) & Linga installed in sanctum

Emerging from Jyotirlingam, Skambha of Light. 

Lingodbhava. Tirumayam. Pudukkottai. Tamil Nadu

Lingodbhava, Virupaksha Temple, Pattadakal, Karnataka 

Lingodbhava.

Linga with One Face of Shiva (Ekamukhalinga), Mon–Dvaravati period, 7th–early 8th century. Thailand (Phetchabun Province, Si Thep) Stone; H. 55 1/8 in.

 Lingodbhava, Swarga Brahma temple, Alampur, Andhra Pradesh.

Arunachala. 

Brahma flying up to find the top of the Column of Light

Vishnu burrowing downwards to find the bottom of the Column of Light

Siva Lingodbhavamurti. The Lingodbhavamurti, in which Siva is represented as Candrakasekhara emerging out of fiery Skambha  Early Cola period (c. 850-1014CE. 

Lingodbhava. Ellora.

Lingodbhavamurti. Stone. Dasavatara cave, Ellora. (After TA Gopinatha Rao, 1997, Elements of Hindu iconography, Vol.2, Pt.1, Delhi, Motilal Banarsidass, Plate XIV, Fig.1, p. 109)

Lingodbhavamurti. Stone. Ambar-Magalam. (After TA Gopinatha Rao, 1997, Elements of Hindu iconography, Vol.2, Pt.1, Delhi, Motilal Banarsidass, Plate XIV, Fig.2, p. 109)

Lingodbhavamurti. Stone. Lingodbhavamurti. Stone. Kailasanathaswamin Temple, Conjeevaram (After TA Gopinatha Rao, 1997, Elements of Hindu iconography, Vol.2, Pt.1, Delhi, Motilal Banarsidass, Plate XIII, Fig.1, p. 109)

Why do Hindus Worship Shiva Linga? Kanchi Paramacharya’s Talk

Compiled by London Swaminathan
Post No. 870 dated 26th February 2014

“ God is Omnipresent and All-pervasive. By the very nature of these qualities, He cannot have any form. He is, therefore, formless (Arupa). But in order to bless us, He assumes innumerable forms (Rupa). The Linga form in which we worship Isvara is symbolic of both His formlessness and form. It is symbolic of form because it has a particular shape; It is symbolic of formlessness because it has neither head nor limbs. The very conception of a Linga denotes something which has neither beginning nor end; the literal meaning of Linga is symbol.

Banalinga, part of Panchayatana Puja, is egg shaped. It serves to remind us Isvara(God) has neither beginning nor end. The shape of the sky is another example. Looking at the horizon we feel that the sky and the earth meet at a particular point. We may circle the earth and return to the point from which we started, without coming to the point where the sky and the earth meet. If we go into the significance of the symbol of Linga, we will realise that it is intended to bring the Unknown within our mental comprehension.

Lingodbhava Moorthi

Isvara assumes various forms in pursuance of His Divine Leela. The prime manifestation with a form of the formless Isvara, is known as the Lingodbhava Moorthi, and He made his appearance in that form exactly at midnight on Sivaratri. That is why all devotees keep vigil during the night of Sivaratri, and worship Isvara at midnight. If we go to any important Siva temple, we will find a niche, in the outer wall of the sanctum sanctorum, exactly behind the spot where the deity is installed. In that niche we can find a representation of the Lingodbhava Moorthi—a form emerging out of a linga. We can see neither the top half of the head nor the bottom half of the legs of that form. All the other attributes of Siva, like the axe, the deer etc. will be found sculptured. We will find also depicted a swan in flight at the top of the linga, and a boar burrowing the earth at the bottom.

According to tradition, Brahma took the form of a swan to find the crown of Siva’s head and failed. Similarly Vishnu took the form of a varaha/ boar and burrowed deep into the bowels of the earth to locate the feet of Siva and failed.

Thus in Lingodbhava Moorthi, we find the unique combination of Brahma, Vishnu and Siva, impressing in our minds the Advaitic tatva that God is One, Full and All Pervasive. Both the Arupa and Rupa aspects of Isvara are thus depicted.

(Significance of Sivaratri, Talk delivered by Kanchi Shankaracharya Sri Chandra Sekarendra Sarasvati on 16th February 1958 in Madras.)

Source: Pages 105- 107 of Acharya’s Call, Madras Discourses 1957- 1960, B G Paul & Co., Madras 1, 1968 publication.

Hindu Gods in Japan

Interview between Paramacharya and Hajme Nakamura, Professor of Philosophy, University of Tokyo
His Holiness: Is Shiva Linga found anywhere in Japan
Professor Hajme Nakamura: No. there is neither Shiva Linga nor images of Vishnu. But there is Ganapathi, Saraswathi, Indra, Brahma and even Varuna. But also there is a crocodile, which is regarded as the vehicle (Vahana) of the Ganges. The meaning of the Japanese names of
Ganapathi = Arya deva
Saraswathi = Goddess of eloquence
Indra = Chakra deva
Varuna = God of water

Picture of Linodbhava

Shiva 50% + Vishnu 50%

“We Hindus regard both Siva and Vishnu as the same and this is evident from the fact that in the ecstasy of our devotion, when we are alone or in groups, we exclaim Haro-Hara and Govinda Govinda which names come to our lips spontaneously.

The holy days of Sivaratri and Janmashtami, are divided from each other by exactly 180 days, and this seems to indicate that god in his aspect as Siva protects us during one half of the year and his aspect as Vishnu , in the other half.

The traditional practice of boys and girls collecting oil for their vigil on Sivaratri and Janmashtami nights , singing in chorus a song which means Sivaratri and Sri Jayanthi/Janmashtami are the same, is another pointer to the identity of these two manifestations of the divine.”
(Paramacharya has pointed out in another talk that only two stars out of 27 stars has the honorific prefix “Thiru=Sri” in Tamil. They are Arudra and Onam. Both of them are associated with Shiva and Vishnu respectively. Big celebrations are held in Siva and Vishnu temples on those days. (Arudra= Thiruvathirai; Onam= Thiruvonam )

“Some Western scholars in their ignorance have dubbed Hindu religion as polytheistic. The uniqueness of our religion lies in the fact that under whichever name a devotee worships his Ishtadevata – that manifestation of god which appeals to him most – he considers him as the all pervading Paramatma. In fact, the culmination of all conceptions of the Supreme Being is in monism. That is Advaita Vedanta. Isvara, Narayana and Parasakti are all different aspects of one Supreme Being. This is visibly illustrated in the divine forms of Ardhanareeswara and Sankara – Narayana.

Such manifestations of the divine are installed in many South Indian temples, such as Ardhanareeswara (Half Siva, Half Sakti) in Tiruchengodu, SankaraNarayanan (Half Siva and Half Vishnu) koil in Tirunelveli district and Harihara in Mysore. Siva and Vishnu are also found together in the temple at Tiruparkadal near Kaveripakkam.

Source: Volume 2 of Acharya’s Call, Madras Discourses 1957- 1960, B G Paul & Co., Madras 1, 1968 publication.

Linga made up of two million Rudraksha seeds from Surat,Gujarat.

Contact swami_48@yahoo.com

http://tamilandvedas.com/2014/02/26/why-do-hindus-worship-shiva-linga-kanchi-paramacharyas-talk/

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2015/10/indus-script-corpora-face-hieroglyph-is.html

mũh 'a face' in Indus Script Cipher signifies mũh, muhã 'ingot' or muhã 'quantity of metal produced at one time in a native smelting furnace.'

Specific inscriptions presented in this note represent either orthographically or iconographically, metalwork proclamations by Meluhha artisans with competence in Indus Writing system.

A face is artistically rendered as an isolated feature or jointly with other body parts, say, in a composite animal composition as hieroglyph-multiplex together with, for example, the paws of a tiger, hoofs of a bovine or hooded serpent. A face is also artistically rendered on a sivalinga in forms such as ekamukha linga or caturmukha linga, in the context of a smelter. Such hieroglyph-multiplexing signifies sangaḍa 'joined animal parts' Rebus: sangara 'proclamation'. Thus, a face on inscriptions is part of a metalwork proclamation in Indus Script Corpora which constitute catalogus catalogorum of metalwork of the Bronze Age.

Face signified as a hieroglyph is identified in eight sets of Indus Script inscriptions presented in this note.

1. Tin ingot with (woman's) face hieroglyph
2. Face (head) of goat joined with body of fish on Susa trough
3. Face (head) of bull on Warka vase
4. (Human) face component in hieroglyph-multiplex of 'composite animal'
5. Face on Bhuteswar sivalinga & face with body of a hunter on Gudimallam sivalinga
6. Face with prominent nose on Mahavira pot of Vedic Yajna
7. Face (one eye) of a woman holding back rearing tigers
8. Head of bull on cylinder seals with Indus script hieroglyphs

In all these inscriptions, the readings are: mũh 'face' Rebus: mũhe 'ingot'. Context is working with měď 'copper' (Czech) with metal-word cognates such as:

Santali glosses

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)

http://www.ling.hawaii.edu/austroasiatic/AA/Munda/ETYM/Pinnow&Munda

— 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]

http://www.vanderkrogt.net/elements/element.php?sym=Cu 

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’.

Item 1. Tin ingot with (woman's) face hieroglyph
Inscribed tin ingot with a moulded head, from Haifa (Artzy, 1983: 53). (Michal Artzy, 1983, Arethusa of the Tin Ingot, Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, BASOR 250, pp. 51-55) https://www.academia.edu/5476188/Artzy-1983-Tin-Ignot Face on this tin ingot: mũhe ‘face’ (Santali) Rebus: mũh ‘ingot’ (Santali). The three hieroglyphs are: ranku 'antelope' Rebus: ranku 'tin' (Santali) ranku 'liquid measure' Rebus: ranku 'tin' (Santali). dāṭu = cross (Te.); dhatu = mineral (Santali) Hindi. 
dhāṭnā ‘to send out, pour out, cast (metal)’ (CDIAL 6771). [The 'cross' or X hieroglyph is incised on all three tin ingots found in a shipweck in Haifa.] http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2015/08/indus-script-corpora-as-catalogus.html

Item 2. Face (head) of goat joined with body of fish on Susa trough

See: http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2015/08/indus-script-on-maritime-tin-road_16.html

A Susa ritual basin dated to ca. 12th or 13th century BCE depicts goat and fish ligatured into a 'fabulous' or 'composite' animal representation, clearly intended to connote the underlying hieroglyphic meaning. Susa ritual basin dates from 13th or 12th cent. BCE. The hieroglyph-multiplex flanks reedposts, spathes, molluscs. http://www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-notices/ritual-basin-decorated-goatfish-figures aya 'fish' Rebus: aya 'iron' (Gujarati) ayas 'metal' (Rigveda) meḷh ‘goat’ (Br. mr̤eka (Te.); mēṭam (Ta.); meṣam (Samskritam) Te. mr̤eka (DEDR 5087)  (DEDR 5087) Rebus: meluh.h.a (Akkadian) mleccha (Samskritam) milakkhu 'copper' (Pali) 

Item 3. (Human) face component in hieroglyph-multiplex of 'composite animal'

m0301 Mohenjodaro seal shows a comparable 'composite animal' glyphic composition.

The glyphic elements of the composite animal shown together with the glyphs of fish, fish ligatured with lid, arrow (on Seal m0302) are:

--ram or sheep (forelegs denote a bovine)

--neck-band, ring

--bos indicus (zebu)(the high horns denote a bos indicus)

--elephant (the elephant's trunk ligatured to human face)

--tiger (hind legs denote a tiger)

--serpent (tail denotes a serpent)

--human face

All these glyphic elements are decoded rebus:

meḍho a ram, a sheep (G.)(CDIAL 10120); 

kaḍum ‘neck-band, ring’ 

adar ḍangra ‘zebu’

ibha ‘elephant’ (Skt.); rebus: ib ‘iron’ (Ko.)

kolo ‘jackal’ (Kon.)

kulA 'hooded serpent' Rebus: kol 'working in iron' kolle 'blacksmith' kolhe 'smelter'

moṇḍ the tail of a serpent (Santali) Rebus: Md. moḍenī ʻ massages, mixes ʼ. Kal.rumb. moṇḍ -- ʻ to thresh ʼ, urt. maṇḍ -- ʻ to soften ʼ (CDIAL 9890) Thus, the ligature of the serpent as a tail of the composite animal glyph is decoded as: polished metal (artifact).

mũhe ‘face’ (Santali); mleccha-mukha (Skt.) = milakkhu ‘copper’ (Pali)

Item 4. Face (head) of bull on Warka vase

Head of bull between two storage jars filled with ingots. Warka vase hieroglyph-multiplex.

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2015/08/ancient-near-east-jasper-cylinder-seal.html

See head of bull on Warka vase. Signified on top register between two storage jars filled with ingots.

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2015/02/meluhha-hieroglyphs-of-gudimallam.html  Meluhha hieroglyphs of Gudimallam sculpture, kole.l 'smithy' is kole.l'temple' (Kota). A continuum of metalwork traditions of Sarasvati-Sindhu civilization

Cipher of Indus Script Corpora explains sivalinga as purifier of metals, skambha attested on Maritime Tin Route from Hanoi to Haifa

Item 5: Face on Bhuteswar sivalinga & face with body of a hunter on Gudimallam sivalinga

Worship of Shiva Linga by Gandharvas - Shunga Period - Bhuteshwar - ACCN 3625

razier, fireplace ʼ?(Kashmiri)(CDIAL 2999)

Pe. kaṇga (pl. -ŋ, kaṇku) eye. Ta. kaṇ eye, aperture, orifice, star of a peacock's tail. Ma. kaṇ, kaṇṇu eye, nipple, star in peacock's tail, bud. Ko. kaṇ eye. To. koṇ eye, loop in string.Ka. kaṇ eye, small hole, orifice. Koḍ. kaṇṇï id. Tu. kaṇṇů eye, nipple, star in peacock's feather, rent, tear. Te. kanu, kannu eye, small hole, orifice, mesh of net, eye in peacock's feather. Kol. kan (pl. kanḍl) eye, small hole in ground, cave. Nk. kan (pl. kanḍḷ) eye, spot in peacock's tail. Nk. (Ch.) kan (pl. -l) eye. Pa.(S. only) kan (pl. kanul) eye. Ga. (Oll.) kaṇ (pl. kaṇkul) id.; kaṇul maṭṭa eyebrow; kaṇa (pl. kaṇul) hole; (S.) kanu (pl. kankul) eye. Go. (Tr.) kan (pl.kank) id.; (A.) kaṛ (pl. kaṛk) id. Konḍa kaṇ id. Pe. kaṇga (pl. -ŋ, kaṇku) id. Manḍ. kan (pl. -ke) id. Kui kanu (pl. kan-ga), (K.) kanu (pl. kaṛka) id. Kuwi(F.) kannū (pl. kar&nangle;ka), (S.) kannu (pl. kanka), (Su. P. Isr.) kanu (pl. kaṇka) id. Kur. xann eye, eye of tuber; xannērnā (of newly born babies or animals) to begin to see, have the use of one's eyesight (for ērnā, see 903). Malt. qanu eye. Br. xan id., bud. (DEDR 1159) kāṇá ʻ one -- eyed ʼ RV.
Pa. Pk. kāṇa -- ʻ blind of one eye, blind ʼ; Ash. kã̄ṛa, °ṛī f. ʻ blind ʼ, Kt. kãŕ, Wg. kŕãmacrdotdot;, Pr. k&schwatildemacr;, Tir. kāˊna, Kho. kāṇu NTS ii 260,kánu BelvalkarVol 91; K. kônu ʻ one -- eyed ʼ, S. kāṇo, L. P. kāṇã̄; WPah. rudh. śeu. kāṇā ʻ blind ʼ; Ku. kāṇo, gng. kã̄&rtodtilde; ʻ blind of one eye ʼ, N. kānu;A. kanā ʻ blind ʼ; B. kāṇā ʻ one -- eyed, blind ʼ; Or. kaṇā, f. kāṇī ʻ one -- eyed ʼ, Mth. kān, °nā, kanahā, Bhoj. kān, f. °ni, kanwā m. ʻ one -- eyed man ʼ, H. kān,°nā, G. kāṇũ; M. kāṇā ʻone -- eyed, squint -- eyed ʼ; Si. kaṇa ʻ one -- eyed, blind ʼ. -- Pk. kāṇa -- ʻ full of holes ʼ, G. kāṇũ ʻ full of holes ʼ, n. ʻ hole ʼ (< ʻ empty eyehole ʼ? Cf. ã̄dhḷũ n. ʻ hole ʼ < andhala -- ).S.kcch. kāṇī f.adj. ʻ one -- eyed ʼ; WPah.kṭg. kaṇɔ ʻ blind in one eye ʼ, J. kāṇā; Md. kanu ʻ blind ʼ.(CDIAL 3019) Ko. kāṇso ʻ squint -- eyed ʼ.(Konkani) 

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2015/09/cipher-of-indus-script-corpora-explains.html

Item 7. Face (one eye) of a woman holding back rearing tigers

Harappa. Molded tablet. Plano convex molded tablet showing a female deity battling two tigers and standing above an elephant. A single Indus script depicting a spoked wheel is above the head of the deity. On the reverse (89), an individual is spearing a water buffalo with one foot pressing the head down and one arm holding the tip of a horn. A gharial [crocodile] is depicted above the sacrifice scene and a figure seated in yogic position, wearing a horned headdress, looks on. The horned headdress has a branch with three prongs or leaves emerging from the center.Material: terra cotta. 

Dimensions: 3.91 length, 1.5 to 1.62 cm width Harappa, Lot 4651-01 Harappa Museum, H95-2486Meadow and Kenoyer 1997 Source: harappa.com Slide 90 Hieroglyph: kaṇga 'eye' (Pe.) Rebus: kang m. ʻbrazier'
Hieroglyph: kola 'woman' Rebus: kol 'working in iron' kolle 'blacksmith' Hieroglyph: six (locks of hair): baTa 'six' Rebus: baTha 'furnace'Lock of hair: meDha 'curl of hair' Rebus: meD 'iron'. 
Item 8: Head of bull on cylinder seals with Indus script hieroglyphs

The cylinder seal of Cyprus clearly shows the head of bull in the context of orthographs signifying ox-hide ingots.

Cylinder seal: man grasping an antelope, bull's head over ingot

Period: Late Cypriot

Date: ca. 16th–12th century B.C.

Geography: Cyprus, Ayia Paraskevi; Cyprus

Culture: Cypriot

Medium: Black-grey steatite

Dimensions: 0.63 in. (1.6 cm)

Classification: Stone-Cylinder Seals

Credit Line: The Cesnola Collection, Purchased by subscription, 1874–76

Accession Number: 74.51.4325 Metmuseum

The cylinder seal (unprovenanced) shows head of bull together with other hieroglyphs: 6 dotted circles, lion, eagle ligatured to a feline and an antelope with head turned backwards).

baTa 'six' Rebus: baTa 'furnace'. eruvai 'eagle' Rebus: eraka 'moltencast copper'. ranku 'antelope' Rebus: ranku 'tin' krammara 'head turned back' Rebus: kamar 'blacksmith' arya 'lion' (Akkadian) Rebus: arA 'brass'. muh 'face (of bull)' Rebus: muh 'ingot'.

Cylinder seal: lion and sphinx over an antelope The depiction of a bull’s head together with an antelope is significant and recalls the association of bull’s head with oxhide ingots. The antelope looking backwards is flanked by a lion (with three dots at the back of the head) and a winged animal (tiger?)

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2015/05/backbone-of-indus-script-corpora-tin.html  Backbone of Indus Script Corpora. Tin Road of Bronze Age Indian Ocean Community linking Ancient Far East and Ancient Near East.

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2015/08/ancient-near-east-cylinder-seal.html Ancient Near East cylinder seal hieroglyphs cord, monkey, crucible, sun of deciphered Indus Script metalwork catalogues

I realize that the examples of inscriptions cited span a vast civilizational space from Hanoi to Haifa and may relate to a time-span of over 2 millennia from 4th millennium BCE, but underscore the fact that all the inscriptions relate to messages or catalogues of metalwork by artisans of the Bronze Age. Without adequate archaeometallurgical evidence, it is tough to venture even a hypothesis on the sojourns, along the Maritime Tin Route, of the metalworkers working in extensive Eurasia civilizational contact areas and supplying the resources for metal implements. One signifier unifies all the artifacts discussed in this art appreciation note which is documentation of metalwork catalogues, proclaiming the artisanal competence demonstrated.

See: http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2015/08/indus-script-corpora-as-catalogus.html
http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2015/08/indus-script-deciphered-crane-or-egret.html

About 5 ft. tall.

Top bust of Gudimallam lingam.

Bottom support base of Gudimallam lingam. The iconic form of Siva stands on the shoulders of a dwarf, a member of the gaNa. Bauddham friezes refers to them as Yakshas. The dward gaNa is also explained as Apasmara who symbolizes ignorance.

Worship of the five-faced and ten-armed Sadāśiva, in the iconic form of Siva (who had emerged out of the lingam) who is the focal divinity of a school of Shaivism of 12th century not only in Bharatam but also in Cambodia. (Dominic Goodall, Nibedita Rout, R. Sathyanarayanan, S.A.S. Sarma, T. Ganesan and S. Sambandhasivacarya, The Pañcāvaraṇastava of Aghoraśivācārya: A twelfth-century South Indian prescription for the visualisation of Sadāśiva and his retinue, Pondicherry, French Institute of Pondicherry and Ecole française d'Extréme-Orient, 2005, p.12).

Mahadeva Śiva removes mists of Draviḍa Māyā http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2015/01/mahadeva-siva-removes-mists-of-dravida.html 

Siva stands on the shoulders of a stumpy dwarf or goblin, gaNa. Ananda Coomaraswamy sees similarity of the goblin figure with 'kupiro yakho' (Kubera yaksha) of Bharhut.

Pl. I Gudimallam sculpture

6. Face with prominent nose on Mahavira pot of Vedic Yajna
Context: Indus Script decipherment. Māyābheda sukta (RV 10.177.1-3) and hieroglyph components from mAhAvIra, gharma pot in pravargya prefacing agniṣṭōma अग्निष्टोम Soma yajna  

Gandhara Swat Grave culture

A pottery urn with bulbous body, surmoA pottery urn with bulbous body, surmounted by a narrow neck and with a flared rim. One side of the vessel features a highly abstract representation of a human face with holes for the eyes and mouth, and applied clay ridges forming the eyebrows and nose.  http://www.benjanssens.com/chinese/2004/46isea_urn-2004.html

A cremation urn with a lid from Pakistan, dating to ca. 1200 BC. Swat Valley, Gandhara Grave Culture, made of terracotta.Courtesy of the LACMA, via their online collections: AC1994.234.8a-b. Terracotta

(a) Urn: 17 x 15 in. (43.18 x 38.1 cm); (b) Lid: 2 x 8 1/4 in. (5.08 x 20.96 cm) Gift of Marilyn Walter Grounds (AC1994.234.8a-b) http://collections.lacma.org/node/177356

http://ancientart.tumblr.com/post/113109747567/a-cremation-urn-with-a-lid-from-pakistan-dating

.After Fig. 2 Gandhara grave culture (Ghalegay V period) face urn from Zarif Karuna near Peshawar, now in the Islamabad Museum.Source: Parpola, Asko, The face urns of Gandhara and the Nasatya cult in: Asko Parpola, ed., Migration, trade and peoples Part 3: Aryans and Nomads, London, British Assn. for South Asian Studies, British Academy, pp. 149-162. "The parallelism in the head symbolism between the gharma vessel in the cult of the As'vins -- the 'possessorsof horses' -- and the face of the urn of the Gandhara Graves appears not to be just a coincidence...the conspicuous three-dimensional 'nose' of the later face urns has a counterpart in the gharma vessel. The Satapatha Brahmana (14.1.2.17) describes the preparation of the gharma vessel thus: 'He then takes a lump of clay and makes the Mahavira (pot) with (the mantra), 'For Makha thee! for Makha's head thee!...a span high, for the head is, as it were, a span high; -- contracted in the middle, for the head is, as it were, contracted in the middle. At the top he then draws it out (unnayati) (so as to form) a spout (mukham 'mouth') of three thumb's breadths (high); he thereby makes a nose (nAsikam) to this (Mahavira, or Pravargya).' It is true that the description does not exactly match the making of the face urns of the Gandhara Graves, but it is remarkable that the gharma pot alone of all the vessels described in the Vedic literature is expressly told to have a 'nose'. It is also true that the Satapatha Brahmana is the only Vedic text to mention this 'nose', and although its present redactions are younger than the texts of the Black Yajurveda, it goes back to an earlier version and its contents in some respects differ entirely from all the other texts. That it can well have preserved ancient traditions prevalent among the Kanvas is quite likely on the basis that one of the two redactions belongs to the Kanvas. The 'nose' of the face urn and the gharma pot should have some specific function, and it indeed is meaningful when considered in the context of the As'vin cult...Comparing the gharma vessel with the cinerary urn of the Gandhara Grave culture implies that there should be a close relationship between the gharma rite and the funeral. I think such a relationship does indeed exist. According to the Rigveda, the gharma rite was instituted by Atri and offered by his descendants out of gratitude to the As'vins, because these had saved Atri from the distress of the rbIsa pit. It was the As'vins who had first given the hot gharma drink to Atri while saving him, so the gharma rite imitates the service rendered by the As'vins. I am arguing that the Atri legend reflects the Atri clan's initial adoption of the cremation burial and the associated cult of the As'vins as funeral deities, who revive the dead by means of their drink of heated milk. These funeral practices new to them the Atris took over from the Kanvas, with whom they established friendly relations while setting in Gandhara." (pp.156-157).

"About 1800 BCE, there is a major cultural change in the Swat Valley with the introduction of new ceramics and two new burial rites: flexed inhumation in a pit and cremation burial in an urn which, according to early Vedic literature, were both practiced in early Indo-Aryan society." http://www.indicstudies.us/Archives/AIT/Aryan%20Migration%20Theories.doc

Asko Parpola goes on to relate nas- 'nose' to NAsatya, an extrapolation which may be a stretch.

Assuming that the Zarif Karuna (near Peshwar) pot is rebus-metonymy layer signifying muha~ 'iron ingot' (Santali), both the prominent 'nose' hieroglyph and the 'face' hieroglyph on the pot can be explained as cognate signifiers, 

Focus on nose, face, mouth on Zarif Karuna pot

In one stream of the Indian sprachbund lexis one set of glosses relate to mukha, the semantics relate to face, mouth; in another stream the entries relate to muk 'nose'.

A simple explanation can be offered for the prominence of the 'nose' in gharma or Pravargya clay pot.

The rebus reading of mu~h 'face' and mu~h 'ingot' has been notd. The cognates for mu~h face in languages of Indian sprachbund: Ta. muka (-pp-, -nt-), mukar (-v-, -nt-), mō (-pp-, -nt-) to smell; mōppam smell; nose (DEDR 4886) Ta. mukam face, mouth; Ka. moga face, mouth; Go. (G. Ma.) mukam, (M.) mukum id. (Voc. 2861); (A. S. Ko.) mokom id (Voc. 2972). Konḍa mokom id.;Kuwi (Su. P. Isr. F.) mūmbu, (S.) mūmbū, (Mah.) mūkā id. (DEDR 4889) Ko. mu·k nose, funnel of bellows; mu·kn man with long nose; fem. mu·ky. To. mu·k nose (in songs); Koḍ. mu·kï nose. Tu. mūku, mūgu, mūṅku nose, beak; Ta. mūkku nose, nostril, beak, nose-shaped part of anything; Te. mukku nose, beak, end, point, tip. Kol. muŋgaḍ (Kin.) mukk, (SR.)  mukku nose (DEDR 5024)

Allograph: See frogs on the Dong Son Bronze drums: Kur. mūxā frog.  Malt. múqe id. / Cf. Skt. mūkaka- id. (DEDR 5023) If the rebus reading was the same as in Santali muha~ (as an Autro-asiatic gloss of Indian sprachbund), the message conveyed by the bronze-smiths of Dong Son can be interpreted: that iron castings are also part of the supercargo conveyed together with the bronze drums.

Hieroglyph: múkha n. ʻ mouth, face ʼ RV., ʻ entrance ʼ MBh.Pa. mukha -- m.; Aś.shah. man. gir. mukhato, kāl. dh. jau. °te ʻ by word of mouth ʼ; Pk. muha -- n. ʻ mouth, face ʼ, Gy. gr. hung. muy m., boh. muy, span. muí, wel. mūīf., arm. muc̦, pal. mu', mi', pers. mu; Tir. mū ʻ face ʼ; Woṭ. mū m. ʻ face, sight ʼ; Kho. mux ʻ face ʼ; Tor. mū ʻ mouth ʼ, Mai. mũ; K. in cmpds. mu -- ganḍ m. ʻ cheek, upper jaw ʼ, mū -- kāla ʻ having one's face blackened ʼ, rām. mūī˜, pog. mūī, ḍoḍ. mū̃h ʻ mouth ʼ; S. mũhũ m. ʻ face, mouth, opening ʼ; L. mũh m. ʻ face ʼ, awāṇ. mū̃ with descending tone, mult. mũhã m. ʻ head of a canal ʼ; P. mū̃h m. ʻ face, mouth ʼ, mū̃hã̄ m. ʻ head of a canal ʼ; WPah.śeu. mùtilde; ʻ mouth, ʼ cur. mū̃h; A. muh ʻ face ʼ, in cmpds. -- muwā ʻ facing ʼ; B. mu ʻ face ʼ; Or. muhã ʻ face, mouth, head, person ʼ; Bi. mũh ʻ opening or hole (in a stove for stoking, in a handmill for filling, in a grainstore for withdrawing) ʼ; Mth. Bhoj. mũh ʻ mouth, face ʼ, Aw.lakh. muh, H. muh, mũh m.; OG. muha, G. mɔ̃h n. ʻ mouth ʼ, Si. muya, muva. -- Ext. -- l<-> or -- ll -- : Pk. muhala -- , muhulla -- n. ʻ mouth, face ʼ; S. muhuro m. ʻ face ʼ (or < mukhará -- ); Ku. do -- maulo ʻ confluence of two streams ʼ; Si. muhul, muhuna, mūṇa ʻ face ʼ H. Smith JA 1950, 179.; -- -- ḍ -- : S. muhaṛo m. ʻ front, van ʼ; Bi. (Shahabad) mohṛā ʻ feeding channel of handmill ʼ. -- Forms poss. with expressive -- kkh -- : seemúkhya -- . -- X gōcchā -- s.v. *mucchā -- .mukhará -- , múkhya -- , maukhya -- ; *mukhakāṣṭha -- , *mukhaghāṭā -- , mukhacandra -- , *mukhajāla -- , *mukhanātha -- , mukhatuṇḍaka -- , *mukhatuttikā -- , *mukhadhara -- , mukhaśuddhi -- , *mukhahāra -- , mukhāgra -- , *mukhāñcala -- , *mukhānta -- , *mukhāyana -- ; amukhá -- , abhimukhá -- , āmukha -- , unmukha -- , *nirmukha -- ; adhōmukha -- , ūrdhvamukha -- , kālamukha -- , gṓmukha -- , caturmukha -- , *paścamukha -- , valīmukha -- , śilīmukha -- , saṁmukhá -- , *sāṁmukha -- , sumukha -- .Addenda: múkha -- : WPah.kṭg. (kc.) mū̃ (with high level tone) m. (obl. -- a) ʻ mouth, face ʼ; OMarw. muhaṛaü ʻ face ʼ.(CDIAL 10158) 

Rebus: mũh ‘ingot’ (Munda) mũh ʻ opening or hole (in a stove for stoking, in a handmill for filling, in a grainstore for withdrawing) ʼ (Bihari)(CDIAL 10158)mleccha-mukha (Skt.) = copper; milakkha (Pali) mu~hu~ = face (S.); rebus: mu_ha ‘smelted ingot’ [mũh opening or hole (in a stove for stoking, in a handmill for filling, in a grainstore for withdrawing)(Bi.)]

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2015/08/context-indus-script-decipherment.html

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2015/08/context-indus-script-decipherment.html

S. Kalyanaraman
Sarasvati Research Center
November 16, 2015

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