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I have read in Dr. Parpola's papers that Vata and Aman are two very significant words in the Harappan language. I also noticed that there is a small town named Vataman approximately 15 km east of Harappan site of Lothal in Gujarat. Could this be of any significance?
Submitted by Rajendra. Editor’s note: I have verified that there is indeed a village called ‘Vataman’ east of Lothal.
Asko Parpola
I do not recognize Aman as a word that has been in my papers, but I certainly think Vata was present in the Harappan language and denoted, among other things, the banyan tree that figures in Harappan iconography as an important component of religion, a position it has kept in the folk religion of later South Asia. It is significant that the word figures in place names, another in Gujarat being Baroda = Vadodara < Vatapatraka.