Great Bath of Mohenjo-daro

Also called: Great Bath · Topic: Harappan (Sindhu-Sarasvati) Civilisation · NCERT: Class 6, Ch 6 "The Beginnings of Indian Civilisation"; Class 12, Ch 1 "Bricks, Beads and Bones"

Meaning

The Great Bath is a large rectangular water tank, about 12 × 7 m, built on the raised Citadel of Mohenjo-daro. It was made watertight with bricks set on edge in gypsum mortar and a layer of bitumen (a natural tar) [2]. Scholars think it was used for a ritual or special bath, not for everyday washing. It matters because it is the best-known building of the Harappan Civilisation. It shows how skilled the Harappans were at working with water, and it gives a clue about their religious beliefs.

Explanation

Background: why it was built where it was

• Mohenjo-daro had a standard bipartite plan (a town in two parts):
• a smaller, higher Citadel in the west, built on mud-brick platforms and walled

• a larger, lower Lower Town in the east, also walled

• The Great Bath stands on the Citadel, which held a few special buildings and not ordinary houses.

• Ordinary homes in the Lower Town had their own brick-paved bathrooms, with drains linked to the street drains.
• So people did not need a public bath for daily washing.
• This is why the Great Bath is seen as a building for a special purpose.

Main features

• The tank: rectangular, about 12 m long and 7 m wide.
• Steps: two staircases lead down into the tank, one from the north and one from the south.
• Corridors: a walkway runs around the tank on all four sides.
• Waterproofing: this is the most tested feature.
• Bricks were laid on edge (standing on their narrow side) and joined with gypsum mortar (a lime-like cement).

• A layer of bitumen was also laid along the sides of the tank to stop water from leaking out [2].

• Rooms on three sides: one room holds a large well, which probably filled the tank [2].

• Outflow: used water drained into a large corbelled drain [2]. A corbelled drain has a roof made of bricks that step inward from each side until they meet.
• Eight bathrooms: a separate block of eight small bathrooms stands next to the Bath and opens onto a lane.

How it worked: the water cycle

• Filling: water was drawn from the large well in a nearby room [2].
• Holding: the bricks on edge, the gypsum mortar and the bitumen kept the water from seeping away [2].
• Emptying: dirty water flowed out through the big corbelled drain [2]. This drain joined the city's planned drainage system.

What it tells us

• Ritual purity: the Bath is the only one of its kind and sits on the Citadel. This suggests that bathing had religious meaning, perhaps washing away impurity.
• Planning and control: the Bath stands on raised platforms. At Mohenjo-daro, building those platforms alone took about 4 million person-days of work.
• Work on this scale needed someone to organise the workers.

• Yet no palace or king has been identified.

• Engineering skill: the same planning shows in the standard 4:2:1 bricks and in a drainage system that Mackay called "the most complete ancient system as yet discovered."

Time, place and evidence

• Period: mature Harappan phase, in the 3rd millennium BCE [2]. The mature phase is generally dated c. 2600–1900 BCE.
• Place: the Citadel mound of Mohenjo-daro, on the Indus in Sindh, present-day Pakistan.
• People: no ruler, priest or builder is known by name. The Harappan script has not been read, so we cannot say who built it or who used it.
• How we know:
• Archaeological remains: we know about the Bath from its excavated brick structure, the well, the drain and the bathroom block.
• Interpretation: the "ritual bath" idea is an inference (an educated guess) from the Bath's uniqueness and its Citadel location. No written record confirms it.

• NCERT: Class 6, Ch 6 "The Beginnings of Indian Civilisation" and Class 12, Ch 1 "Bricks, Beads and Bones" both describe it.

• Nearby structure on the same Citadel: the Warehouse. Only its lower brick part survives, because its wooden upper part rotted away.

Don't confuse with

• Warehouse (often called the "Granary") at Mohenjo-daro: it stands on the same Citadel, but it was a storage building with a wooden upper part that has been lost. The Great Bath was a water tank sealed with gypsum and bitumen.
• Dholavira's reservoirs: Dholavira (Gujarat) had at least six large reservoirs, made of stone or cut into rock. The largest is about 73 m long, and the system was built to store scarce water [2][3]. The Great Bath is far smaller, made of brick, and built for bathing, probably for ritual.
• House bathrooms at Mohenjo-daro: these were private bathrooms for daily washing in almost every house. The Great Bath is one single structure on the Citadel, used for a special purpose.
• Mohenjo-daro's ~700 wells: these supplied homes with drinking and daily water. The Great Bath had its own large well in a room beside it [2].

Prelims Hooks

• Great Bath size: about 12 m × 7 m. Staircases on the north and south only, not on all four sides.
• Waterproofing: bricks set on edge + gypsum mortar + a bitumen layer [2]. A common trap is "lime plaster and stone slabs".
• Rooms on three sides, one with a large well. A separate block of eight bathrooms stood next to it [2].
• Waste water left through a large corbelled drain [2].
• It stands on the Citadel (western, raised part) of Mohenjo-daro, not in the Lower Town and not at Harappa.
• It is dated to the mature Harappan phase (3rd millennium BCE) [2].

Mains Points

• Religion and purity without temples: Harappan cities had no clear temple or palace. Instead, they had one special Bath and private bathrooms in almost every home.
• This suggests great value was placed on cleanliness and ritual purity.
• It is a contrast with Mesopotamia, where cities were built around temples.

• Many scholars see a link to the later Indian tradition of ritual bathing, but this is a probable continuity, not a proven one.

• Evidence of planning and authority: waterproofing, a well for supply and a corbelled drain for outflow were planned together, on platforms that took about 4 million person-days of labour.

• This supports the "planned city" view, not the idea of slow, unplanned growth.

• It also raises the debate about who ran Harappan cities when no king or palace has been found.

• Engineering suited to local conditions: Mohenjo-daro, on a river plain, relied on wells and drains, and the Great Bath was part of that system. Dholavira, on a dry island, relied on reservoirs and a dam [2][3]. This is useful for GS-I answers on how a civilisation adapted to its environment.

Related concepts

• Harappan town planning
• Citadel
• Lower Town
• Upper town and lower town
• Harappan bricks
• Harappan domestic architecture
• Harappan drainage system
• Mohenjo-daro
• Warehouse of Mohenjo-daro
• Dholavira reservoirs

Read more

• Town planning, architecture and water management