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Mahishasura Mardini

1700/1800

Sanskriti Museums

Sanskriti Museums
New Delhi, India

This Hindu bronze figure of the goddess Durga annihilating the demon Mahisha depicts her as a ten-armed female bearing various weapons as well as a cup for drinking the demon’s blood. She is shown killing the buffalo demon with a trident held in one of her right hands. It also shows the emergence of the anthropomorphic figure of the demon issuing from the decapitated buffalo. On the right side one also sees the lion vehicle of the goddess.
The main scriptural legend of the goddess killing the buffalo demon is found in the Devi Mahatmya chapter of the Markandeya Purana. Besides several such scriptural versions, dozens of myths of the goddess and the buffalo can be found scattered all over India in the folk traditions.

Details

  • Title: Mahishasura Mardini
  • Date Created: 1700/1800
  • Location: Western India
  • Physical Dimensions: L 5 cm x B 3.5 cm x H 8 cm
  • Rights: Text © Sanskriti Museum of Everyday Art/ Jyotindra Jain
  • Medium: Brass
  • Period: C. 18th Century

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