Ain Dara is an ancient temple site located in North Syria. It is said to be more than 3000 years old and is dated to the era of the Hittites. The Hittites were an Anatolian people and spoke an Indo-European language and in their culture one detects much Indic influence. The first archaeological evidence for the Hittites appeared in tablets found at the karum of Kanesh which is now called Kültepe. The tablets contain records of trade between Assyrian merchants and a certain "land of Hatti". In the Indic context the word karum is linked to the taxes, work-place and trade. The word haat is the equivalent of market-place.
Alwin Kloekhorst, a Dutch linguist, Indo-Europeanist and Hittitologist states in his writings, "Some names in the tablets were neither Hattic nor Assyrian, but clearly Indo-European." In the Indic context hatti and pani both refer to trade and the market place, hence the names Hittite, Phani or Phoenicians and kani or Cannanites. Many Indic writers have traced the origin of the Land of Hatti, the Land of Punt and the antecedents of the Hittites and Phoenicians to India. One therefore also detects the remnants of the Indic culture in their architecture.
Ain Dara was built by the Hittites on a terrace known as the "Acropolis of the tell' overlooking the Afrin Valley in Syria. Sadly, most of this site was destroyed by Turkish airstrikes in January 2018. The now ruined parts of the temple included sculptures of lions and sphinxes, elaborately decorated walls with geometrical and floral patterns and other animals and mythical creatures. However, the most unique of the sculptures here includes four massive footprints engraved on the limestone floor.
If one were to take a clue from the Vedic Puranic tradition, footstep engravings often appear in many Durga temples. Durga Temples also depict the killing of the demon Maheeshasura by the goddess Durga, who rode a chariot of lions, in her chase of the demon before his death after a nine-day battle.
 |
| The giant footprints of a goddess at the ancient Temple of Ain Dara site at Aleppo in Syria. |
Maheeshasura is a Sanskrit combination word, where 'maheesa' stands for buffalo and 'asura' means demon. At the end of the battle Durga tramples Maheeshasura to death. This lore signifies the victory of good over evil and is celebrated in a nine-day festival of Navaratri-twice a year in India. Surprisingly, in Syria, a located about 60 km from Aleppo, stood the temple of Hierapolis in Manbij, where rituals similar to those of Vedic goddesses were performed. These have been recorded in the De Dia Syria, the most celebrated work of Lucian of Samosata who lived from 125-180 AD.
In the Indian tradition, sculpture of footsteps of gods and goddesses appear commonly at ancient temples which are held in reverence and people do not generally step out on them, instead offerings are made at these footsteps. Examples include the giant footstep at the Leepakshi Temple in Andhra Pradesh.
In her book 'Goddess Temples in Western Asia', author Max Dashu states about the ceremonies at Hierapolis, "Its water ceremonies continued, with processions carrying the image of Atargatis to her sacred lake to be immersed, while others brought ocean water to the temple.". The word 'ocean' refers to the Euphrates River which flowed about 10 km away. However, the temple stood by a lake fed by the Euphrates. The ritual described here is the Indic 'visarjana' of the Goddess Durga.
Of the temple of the Syrian Goddess at Hierapolis, now known as Manbij, the Hindu Puranic pandits have long claimed that the site was a Shakti peetha dedicated to the goddess Mahabhaga, or Sati, or Durga, all manifestations of the feminine energy, that is Shakti. The details of this Mahabhaga temple of Syria maybe accessed in a post by clicking here.
A sculpture was excavated at another temple called the Dura Europos in Syria, where a Mesopotamian goddess is seen seated on a lion-throne with one foot placed on the shoulder of what has been described a nymph but is really a reminder of what can only be the distortion of the story of Durga slaying Maheesh-asura by trampling him with her foot.
A second artifact from Dura Europos shows the slaying, but the god here is wrongly identified as the Mittani god Mithira, a variation of the Rig-Vedic god Mitra.
In Ayn Dara it is said that there were sculptures of mythical animals with human faces. There is one particular which is a creature with the face of a human, horns of a buffalo and the body of a lion. These artifacts in Syria may be a representation of Maheeshasura who had taken many forms in his battle against Durga, such as a lion, an elephant and others before he is killed when he is in the disguise of a buffalo.
 |
| A basalt lion sculpture from the Ain-Dara site, Aleppo, Syria |
 |
| Ain Dara Temple, Aleppo, Syria. This sculpture of mythical creature may well represent Maheeshasura, the buffalo-demon that Durga killed by trampling. Notice the horn on the human-faced creature with the body of a lion. |
.jpg) |
| Notice the horns on the human faced animal which indicates that this may be a sculpture of the shape shifting Maheeshasura Ain Dara, Aleppo, Syria |
 |
| Ain Dara Temple, Aleppo, Syria showing the placement of the goddess's feet. In the Vedic context, the goddess Durga's footsteps depict the trampling of the demon Maheesasura. |
 |
| Veerabhadra Temple, Leepakshi Andhara Pradesh, India |
At the Hierapolis temple at Manbij in Syria dedicated to the Syrian Goddess variously known as Atargatis or Hera, a ceremony that Lucian described in his 'De Dia Syria', was performed in praise of the goddess twice a year, akin to the Navratra ceremony and the Durga puja festivities in India. Additionally, Lucian describes a ceremony where the pilgrims would bring pitchers with offerings of gold coins or jewels which they donated to the priests at the temple. In return they would fill their pitchers with the sacred water at the temple lake, pour part of it on the shrine, and take the rest of it home as sacred water. This is similar to the Kalasha puja of the Navratri celebrations of India.
The temple priests would also fill up a gold vessel with water amidst chanting and perform the same ceremony. The image of the vessel used for the ceremony survives in a coin from that era and looks like a triple kalasha, one vessel over the other.
 |
| The image of the gold vessel used for performing the sacred water ceremony at the Temple of Hierapolis, Manbig, Syria. The description of the ceremony at Hierapolis, written by Lucian in his De Dia Syria is a reminder of the Kalasha Puja of India |
In her book 'Goddess Temples in Western Asia', author Max Dashu states about the ceremonies at Hierapolis, "Its water ceremonies continued, with processions carrying the image of Atargatis to her sacred lake to be immersed, while others brought ocean water to the temple.". The word 'ocean' refers to the Euphrates River which flowed about 10 km away. However, the temple stood by a lake fed by the Euphrates. The ritual described here is the Indic 'visarjana' of the Goddess Durga.
Of the temple of the Syrian Goddess at Hierapolis, now known as Manbij, the Hindu Puranic pandits have long claimed that the site was a Shakti peetha dedicated to the goddess Mahabhaga, or Sati, or Durga, all manifestations of the feminine energy, that is Shakti. The details of this Mahabhaga temple of Syria maybe accessed in a post by clicking here.
A sculpture was excavated at another temple called the Dura Europos in Syria, where a Mesopotamian goddess is seen seated on a lion-throne with one foot placed on the shoulder of what has been described a nymph but is really a reminder of what can only be the distortion of the story of Durga slaying Maheesh-asura by trampling him with her foot.
 |
| An artifact of a Mesopotamian goddess with a foot on the shoulder of a defeated demon, often identified as a nymph. Excavation from the Temple of Dura Europos of Syria indicates that the lore of Maheeshasura may have been known in Syria. |
A second artifact from Dura Europos shows the slaying, but the god here is wrongly identified as the Mittani god Mithira, a variation of the Rig-Vedic god Mitra.
 |
| The god in this artifact from Dura Europos in Syria is often identified as the Mesopotamian god Mithira by western authors. Mithira is the same as the Rig- Vedic god Mitra, worshipped by the Mittani kings whose empire extended from Iran to Turkey. This sculpture artifact may in reality depict goddess Durga slaying the buffalo demon, Maheesa. |
 |
| Durga slaying Maheeshasura An artifact from a temple in India. |
There is some compelling evidence in the legends related to the temples of Syria written by the Syrian author Lucian that leads one to think that perhaps the Ayn Dara site belongs to a time when the lore of Maheeshasura was well known and held sacred in the Syrian-Babylonian-Mesopotamian culture. First, Mahees appears in the Anatolian and Phrygian pantheon of gods as the son of the Goddess Cybele, also known as Kubileya. Kubileya is none other than Kubhjika of the Vedic Tantric pantheon. She is another form of Durga, who in the Hindu pantheon kills Maheesa-asura -the buffalo demon.
In Ayn Dara it is said that there were sculptures of mythical animals with human faces. There is one particular which is a creature with the face of a human, horns of a buffalo and the body of a lion. These artifacts in Syria may be a representation of Maheeshasura who had taken many forms in his battle against Durga, such as a lion, an elephant and others before he is killed when he is in the disguise of a buffalo.
 |
| A human faced animal with the body of a lion at Ain Dara, Syria. It has the horns of a Buffalo, the same as Maheesaura- the demon that Durga killed. |
Citations and Bibliography:
