Cleveland Museum of Art

Durga Slaying Mahisha

Date

c. 1830

Medium

Gum tempera and gold on paper

Culture

Northern India, Pahari kingdoms

Department

Indian and Southeast Asian Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

According to the text dedicated to the exploits of the great goddess Devi in her various forms, there was a time in the mythic past when a buffalo demon was ravaging the world. Storm clouds swirl above and dust below him. The goddess in her warrior aspect in which she is named Durga rides a chariot pulled by two leonine tigers with blue skies and flowering trees above her. The two are about to clash in a bloody battle that will take place on the gently sloping hillside evocative of the western Himalayan foothills where this painting was made.

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