DURGĀ MAHĪŞĀSURAMARDINĪ STATUE

Durgā is the fearsome manifestation (ugra) of a powerful goddess, the consort of the God Śiwa.
Sakti, in Sanskrit means both wife as well as ‘source of sacred and magical power’. This stone statue depicts Durgā as standing on the back of a crouching ox (it is a great pity that the head of the ox has been damaged). She has eight arms, each dealing with a different object. Her four right arms are holding the tail of the ox, an axe (parasu) a sword (khadga) and a cakra (four-spiked wheel) which is ablaze with tiny flames, while her left arms are gripping the hair of an ogre, who is half squatting on the neck of the ox, an object which may be a bow and arrow, a shield and a winged sangkha (shell) .
Durgā is wearing ornate jewelry, in the form of a crown, long earrings, two layers of necklaces, an upawita (sacred thread, complete with pendant) which, is worn across her left shoulder, shoulder ornaments, arm bracelets, bracelets on each wrist of the eight arms, a string around the waist, waist ornaments and bangles on her ankles. Sirascakra, known as a bright godly glow that emanates from the back of her shoulders, and prabhamandala (a mandala or wheel upon which the statue is resting), are depicted plainly, and without any ornamentation. Durgā Mahīșāsuramardinī represents Durgā after she managed to slay Asura, the ogre, who had taken the form of an ox. After the ox is killed, the ogre emerges from the neck of the slain animal. This kind of Durgā statue would have been used as a ritual object for Hindu worship, and is usually placed in a niche at the northern side of a Hindu temple.