Abstract
Soils at 57 ancient Hindu temples in India are documented from field profiles as a basis for understanding livelihoods of the five cults of Puranic (Smarta) Hinduism during the first millennium CE. Similar soils were found at different temples of the same deity, but different kinds of soils at temples of different deities. Temples of Ganesha and Hanuman, for example, are alluvial Entisols and Vertisols, the principal cultivable soils of India. Temples of Vishnu and Lakshmi are well drained Alfisols and Aridisols suitable for grazing, housing and markets. Different soils supported different livelihoods, social classes and cults, such as servant (shudra) class for farmers Ganesha and Hanuman, and herder-merchant (vaishya) class for Vishnu and Lakshmi. This result matches accounts in the Matsya Purana (250–500 CE) specifying dark organic soils for shudras and red soil for vaishyas. Puranic Smarta polytheism may reflect amalgamation of different tribal traditions during expansion of Gupta and other Hindu empires.
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