The Indus civilization is usually thought to have been a theocracy (a state ruled by religious authorities), with the citadel mounds at Indus cities housing religious and administrative buildings.
At Mohenjo Daro, the citadel had a number of rooms opening on to a courtyard with a Great Bath, surely for some form of ritual bathing. On the other hand the citadel at Kalibangan had seven fire altars: fire-blackened pits in which sacrificial offerings had been burnt. Several other Indus towns also had fire altars on their citadels or in private houses. But very few structures have been identified as temples and none with certainty.
Many clues suggest that later Indian religious beliefs and practices were inherited from the Indus religion. For example, female figurines could represent a Mother Goddess, a popular deity among ordinary South Asian folk down the ages.
The seals and many figurines depict cattle, still held in reverence in India; some suggest individual deities such as Shiva, seemingly depicted on a seal in his role as Lord of the Beasts.
The Indus people also appear to have had a detailed knowledge of astronomy: a star calendar charting the heavens was compiled in the 23rd century BC, when the Indus civilization was at its peak.
