Cleveland Museum of Art

Goddess standing on a mountaintop

Master of the court of Mandi

Date

c. 1720

Medium

Gum tempera and gold on paper

Culture

Northern India, Pahari kingdoms

Department

Indian and Southeast Asian Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

The four-armed goddess, whose name remains unknown, presides over a scene of carnage. Two dark-skinned women offer halved heads full of blood. A buffalo that stands for her devotees’ enemies has been sacrificed. Jackals and birds of prey cheerfully take away shares of flesh. An important aspect of religious practice in the northwest Himalayas, the worship of fierce goddesses was thought to aid their devotees in conquering enemies, psychological and otherwise. She wears the enemies as corpses in her ears and as a garland around her neck. The Goddess is wearing a garland of corpses.

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