The goddess Durga slaying demons
The goddess Durga slaying demons

On view

South Asian Art

The goddess Durga slaying demons,

ca. 1690–1710

Indian
y1947-341.4

When all the divinities converged, the formidable multiarmed goddess Durga emerged through their combined luster and energies. The gods bestowed Durga with their weapons: She obtained Shiva’s trident, Vishnu’s discus, Indra’s thunderbolt, Agni’s spear, and Parshurama’s axe. Fortified with divine weaponry and with a fierce tiger as her mount, the goddess Durga descended upon the battlefield and commenced slaying the demon army.


Namrata B. Kanchan, PhD Candidate,
Department of Asian Studies, University of Texas at Austin

Information

Title
The goddess Durga slaying demons
Dates

ca. 1690–1710

Medium
Opaque watercolor on paper
Dimensions
14.5 × 19.3 cm (5 11/16 × 7 5/8 in.) mat: 27.9 × 35.6 cm (11 × 14 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Frank Jewett Mather Jr.
Object Number
y1947-341.4
Place Made

Asia, India, Himachal Pradesh, Mankot

Description
Devi is depicted in the center of this painting, astride a tiger. Her eighteen arms form a fan around her and each wields a weapon. She is attacked from all sides by ferocious demons, but is successfully vanquishing them. Bodies of those she has already dealt with lay bloody and broken along the bottom of the painting.
Culture
Indian
Type
manuscripts
Materials
paper (fiber product), watercolor
Subject
battles, miniatures (paintings), demons, figures (representations)

Mankot, Himachal Pradesh, India; Professor Frank Jewett Mather Jr. (1868–1953); given to the Princeton University Art Museum, 1947.

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