Northern India, Kashmir or Himachal Pradesh, 9th-10th Century / 800s–900s
Durga Destroying the Buffalo Demon
The Cleveland Museum of Art catalogs Durga Destroying the Buffalo Demon as sculpture (Northern India, Kashmir or Himachal Pradesh, 9th-10th Century · 800s–900s).
She uses Shiva's trident to pin down the demon.
A CLOSER LOOK
The museum identifies this sculpture as schist.
The museum's collection notes: IIn Hindu traditions, the goddess Durga is sometimes understood as a form of Shiva's wife Parvati, the personification of his female energies. This female creative energy, called shakti, has a powerful side that is personified as the warrior goddess Durga, capable of destroying arrogance and other mental vices, personified as the demon. Her main feat in the mythic literature is the slaying of the Buffalo Demon, Mahishasura. He had been ravaging the universe until the warrior goddess Durga decapitated him. His more vulnerable demonic form emerges from the neck, and she, calm but powerful, slays him with her sword.
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The Cleveland Museum of ArtDurga Destroying the Buffalo DemonOriginal explanation based on the sources above. Images carry their own reuse terms.