The Great Bath at Mohenjo-daro

Iravatham Mahadevan considers this late 2011 paper to be "one of the most important papers I have written." A stunning re-examination of key ancient Indus signs in light of mysteries surrounding the Great Bath and famous dancing girl of Mohenjo-daro, it brings together evidence from a number of areas to propose a truly new - but not improbable - reading of these elements in ancient Indus culture. He argues against a common interpretation of the fish sign, one he has long upheld. Was it all about dancing girls?

Originally published in the August 2011 Bulletin of the Indus Research Centre at the Roja Muthiah Research Library in Chennai, India