This sculpture depicts the goddess Durga as her avatar, Mahishasuramardini, slaying the buffalo demon, Mahisha. Durga is a powerful manifestation of Parvati and, as such, appears on her own, rather than as a consort of Shiva. In the present example, the fierce eighteen-armed deity is shown in a triumphant pose as the slayer of Mahisha.

This commanding sculpture artfully combines the dynamic with the static. The goddess’s powerful stance and fan of eighteen arms are balanced by her otherwise delicate features and calm expression after having chopped off the bull’s head. The demonic demigod emerges from the animal’s body, whilst his vanquisher brandishes a kapala (skull-cup) and a sword in two of her hands. Her diminutive lion mount roars menacingly at her right foot, as the left hind leg of the defeated buffalo arches upwards in anguish.

The narrative of the Hindu goddess Durga – assembling the weapons of all the gods and overcoming the demigod Mahisha, who endangered the order of the world – is shown here at the moment of her victory. The iconography represents the supreme expression of the power of this goddess, commonly referred to as ‘the Unassailable’ or ‘the Unconquerable’.