2009.17 Durga Mahishasuramardini

The Hindu goddess Durga is a form of the Great Goddess, Shri Devi. Her title in this work means “destroyer of the buffalo demon.” The story of Durga destroying the buffalo demon, Mahisha, is one of the best known in India. Although Mahisha was a demon (asura), as a result of his per­ceived piety he was granted a boon by the god Brahma that no man or god could slay him. After a rampage that conquered both the heavens and the earth, the gods were dismayed until Durga, a warlike goddess of great strength, came to the rescue. Each of the gods gave her their weapons and power, so that she might triumph. This 12th-century sculpture from the Pala dynasty in eastern India shows Durga at the moment of slaying Mahisha. Wielding a mighty sword, while still holding all the weapons of the gods in multiple hands, she slices off the buffalo’s head. In a fountain of blood, the actual demon, in human form, emerges from the severed neck. Since she was neither man nor god, but rather a woman and goddess, she was able to rid the earth of Mahisha.  

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