5 minutes with... A Pala-period sculpture of a warrior goddess

Indian, Himalayan and Southeast Asian Art specialist Isabel McWilliams on a depiction in stone — around 1,000 years old — of the Hindu goddess Durga killing a shapeshifting buffalo demon. On 21 March it will be offered in our Indian, Himalayan and Southeast Asian Works of Art Sale

‘From day one, many female deities have been commonly associated with fertility,’ says Isabel McWilliams, specialist in the Indian, Himalayan & Southeast Asian Art department in New York. ‘But in this stone figure from northeast India of the Hindu goddess Durga we see one of the most popular examples of a female deity who is harnessing a much wider range of cosmic powers.’ Durga, also known as Devi or Shakti, is ‘an omnipotent, fearsome deity who combats evil forces’, McWilliams explains. A warrior goddess, she is frequently depicted in Hindu sculpture atop a tiger or lion, often carrying weapons. Here Durga is depicted in her manifestation as Mahishasuramardini, slayer of the shapeshifting buffalo demon Mahishasura. According to Hindu myth, Mahishasura could not be killed by man or god. ‘Power-crazed, he conquered the heavens, whose deities were unable to stop him,’ says McWilliams. In response, the gods cried to the goddess Parvati for help and asked her to summon the collective shakti or divine power of all the female deities in the creation of Durga, who could destroy Mahishasura. After nine days of battle, Durga vanquished Mahishasura and his army and restored the heavens to the gods.

In this sculpture, just over 4 ft (131 cm) high and carved in an almost velvety, rich dark grey stone, Durga is seen in the precise moment of spearing Mahishasura. ‘You see that the buffalo’s head is severed from the body,’ the specialist points out. ‘And in killing the buffalo, she’s also killing Mahishasura, seen here as the demon figure atop the animal. It’s quite a dramatic image that captures the decisive moment in the narrative.’ Between the 8th and the 12th centuries, the regions of Bihar and Bengal (modern-day northeast India and Bangladesh) were politically and culturally unified under the reign of the Pala kings. Stone sculptures of the later period — carved from grey or black schist, which is reminiscent of slate in its foliate structure and colour — reflected an eclectic mix of Buddhist and Hindu iconography.

McWilliams admires the sculpture’s ‘typical minute detailing’