How has religion shaped the region of southern asia?

The Indus Valley and Vedic Culture

The story of South Asian religious life begins with the river Indus and its tributaries. The Indus was the center of the earliest complex urban culture of which we have evidence in the region, the Indus Valley or Harappan culture (ca. 2800-1500 B. C. E.) Some scholars postulate continuities between elements of the culture, such as possible goddess or fertility worship, and later religious developments in South Asia, such as the growth of the cult of the goddess in Hinduism. The great Hindu god Shiva, who gained prominence later, may also relate to a figure present on Indus Valley seals. Similarities between the Indus Valley and later cultures are difficult to verify, because the script found in the Indus Valley is undeciphered and available evidence is entirely material.