The Halo

“Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Zoroastrianism and Greek mythology are usually regarded as utterly distinct religions, largely defined by their differences. But if you just look at them, you will see a symbol that connects them all – the halo,” read an article in BBC Culture.  It signifies that “glory or divinity and can be seen in art across the world”. According to the write-up, the halo has many variants across the world. Matthew Wilson also writes in this long read that in the First Century AD, the Indo-Scythians (nomads from Iran) and the Kushans (from Bactria, Afghanistan) invaded the regions to their southeast, the territories now covered by modern-day Pakistan, Afghanistan and northern India. Both empires, which were steeped in ancient Iranian cultural history, brought coinage with them that represented Mithra with a halo. According to him, Buddhism, Jainism and Hinduism peacefully coexisted in India in the first millennium AD, and the three religions shared ideas and artistic iconography, including haloes.