Religious Continuity in Post-Harappan South Asia: An Archaeological and Cultural Reassessment

Author(s)	Mr. Vishesh Pramod Kumar
Country	India
Abstract	The disintegration of Harappan urban centres around the beginning of the second millennium BCE is often treated as a cultural rupture in South Asian history. However, archaeological evidence suggests that while urban institutions declined, several religious ideas and ritual practices continued within post-Harappan communities. This paper reassesses the question of religious continuity after the Harappan period through a critical examination of material culture, ritual architecture, and symbolic motifs. Rather than arguing for direct survival of specific deities or doctrines, the study emphasizes continuity at the level of ritual behaviour and symbolic expression. The paper proposes that post-Harappan religious traditions emerged through processes of adaptation and interaction, contributing to the formation of later South Asian religious patterns.
Keywords	Harappan Civilization, religious continuity, archaeology, ritual practices, early Indian religion
Published In	Volume 7, Issue 1, January-February 2026
Published On	2026-02-28

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