Question

What was harsha religion? How did he behave towards other religions

Answer 1

Pushyabhuti, the founder of the dynasty to which Harsha belonged, was a devotee of Siva. Harsha’s father, Prabhakara Vardhana “offered daily to the Sun a bunch of red Lotuses”.

Harsha’s brother Rajya Vardhana and sister Rajyasri were deeply attached to the Hinayana form of Buddhism. And, Harsha himself turned into a strong believer in Mahayana Buddhism.

The religious beliefs of Harsha’s family are like a reflection of the general religious beliefs of the Indian people in 7th century A.D.


Hinduism and Buddhism, as well as the various cults of those two religions, were already so much nearer to each other that people accepted them all with intense devotion. A synthesis of religious ideas was taking place within a broad spiritual outlook.

By the time of Harsha, the Puranic Hinduism was sweeping over India in full force. The Hindu gods and goddesses had come to dominate the religious faith of the people. Buddha’s images were also worshipped by the Hindus along with the images of their major gods. Hiuen Tsang, though a Buddhist himself, and proud to have counted about two lakhs of Buddhist monks in India during his travel, was impressed to see the predominance of the Brahminic religion. Sanskrit was the language of both Buddhist and Brahminical scholars. Idol worship had become common with the Mahayan Buddhists and the Hindus.

Within the Puranic Hinduism, there were many sects. Gods like Vishnu, Siva, and Surya were prominently worshipped. Though Buddhism was already heading towards decline, its hold on the popular imagination was still considerable. Jainism was confined to a few places like Vaisali and its former holy centres.

One thing was certain in these conditions that the Indians of that time were perfectly free to practice their faiths as they liked. There were of course religious controversies, but there was no religious dogmatism or fanaticism. An individual also could be a believer in different faiths. Members of the same family could belong to different sects while living together. It was no doubt a time of religious assimilation and spiritual synthesis.

In his religion, Harsha represented this kind of liberal spirit of his time. His ancestors were Saivites, his father was a devotee of the sun, and his brother was a Buddhist. Harsha became a devotee of all the three, Siva, Surya, and Buddha.

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