Mohenjo-Daro: Figurines, Mohenjo-daro, Museum

Though clay figurines were not always produced by the early Indians for religious purposes, most of the images were connected to religious beliefs in some way or another, As mentioned in reference to slide two, the 'mother goddess' image was one of the earliest subjects found in clay art, another, the lingam or phallus, the earliest representation of a male deity who held the procreative power of all males, also became a common object of worship, In later Indian mythology, the lingam was the most basic symbol of the great god Shiva and came to symbolise the energy of the god called 'immovable' and 'the fixed one,' This form of the god can be traced back to neolithic times carved in stone, An example of the lingam is seen in this slide, third from right, The other figurines of this group are also early cult figures which, in some form or other, continue to be revitalised in the symbolism of the Indian religions, For example, at the far right is a head with a characteristic one-sided coiffure that is not unlike those which adorn the yakshis (later mother-goddess types) or proto-historic times around 750-350 B.C. and even much later, Human figures produced at this time are almost always cult images whereas animal figurines were often toys for children, Later on, however, the animals also became religious symbols