Durga Slaying Mahisha
1705
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
1705
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Durga Slaying Mahisha is a 1705 unspecified by Unknown, a Baroque work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
You see a goddess with many arms, each holding a different weapon, riding a lion as she slices the head off a buffalo demon. This painting comes from the Pahari kingdoms in northern India. The goddess, Durga, isn’t just strong—she’s the combined power of all the male gods. The artist shows her mid-battle, right after the kill, with weapons still raised. The lines on her arms are marks of her divine role. If you like this, look up more paintings about northern India, Pahari kingdoms.
Durga is the name of the goddess who personifies the sum total of the powers of all the male gods combined. When she vanquishes the fierce buffalo demon named Mahisha, she is described as having many arms, each holding a different weapon: bow and arrow, trident, discus, shield, sword, mace, and the conch shell that sounds the start of battle. The horizontal lines on her arms are sectarian markings. At the moment depicted in this painting, she has succeeded in beheading the buffalo demon and shooting arrows into his true form that climbs from its neck. Artists in the foothills of the western…
Read the full account in the museum source.
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