Ever since man started living in social groups from the early Paleolithic period, there was always a leader for the group in each community. As some of these people showed qualities of strength and intelligence, they were considered Super Human and were respected and obeyed by the group. As the concept of God was understood and accepted, some of these leaders were worshipped as people with Divine qualities or as incarnation of God. In the ancient Pre-Aryan India, as in other parts of the world, such leaders were worshipped as Divine manifestations even after their death. The places they were buried or cremated were marked with a stone or a building and all formal ceremonies were performed to the stone memorial or to the soul, such rituals and ceremonies, as it was done when the person was alive. Later, near by communities also accepted them as Divine leaders, especially in times of adversity and suffering.

As the people moved from place to place, they built marker stones or buildings and representative figures to pray for the benefit of the community. The worship of a `Deity' in a Temple like structure was a practice prevalent in what is called the `Dravidian' culture. Thus many incarnations of several village Deities existed in the period referred to as the `pre-Aryan' India, known in the Indus Valley civilization. Their beliefs and places of worship were said to have merged with the so called "Aryan" Hindu religious practice. They were identified with a Vedic Deity or a manifestation of "Brahman" for people to worship with Vedic rituals, accepting those Deities as Hindu gods. Siva worship was popular at this time. According to the star positions mentioned in old records given by the astrologers in the court of King Vaivasvata Manu (said to be about 8576 BC), some people believe that, "Siva" actually lived about 27,000 years ago, among the people as a local leader. He was probably a King among them in the community, with superhuman qualities and powers. He was accepted later by the "Vedic Aryans" as a manifestation of Siva and as the Vedic God, "Rudra".