Advanced Search 
View: 3/4 left profile, in gallery
Durga as Mahishasuramardini (slayer of the demon Mahisha)
Javanese
Central Javanese period
9th–early 10th century A.D.
Object Place: Central Java, Indonesia
Medium/Technique
Andesite
Dimensions
109 x 44.5 cm (42 15/16 x 17 1/2 in.)
Credit Line
Denman Waldo Ross Collection
Accession Number17.1014
CollectionsAsia
ClassificationsSculpture
In Hinduism, goddesses are often enlisted to fight the most grueling of battles. The image celebrates the victory of the goddess Durga over a particularly powerful demon, named Mahisha. The demon hid in the body of a water buffalo, but was forced to emerge when Durga killed the animal with a blow to the neck. Here, Durga strikes the demon in the head with one of her many weapons.
ProvenanceBy 1913, with Denman Waldo Ross (b. 1853 - d. 1935), Cambridge, MA; September 30, 1913, lent to the MFA by Denman Waldo Ross; 1917, gift of Denman Waldo Ross to the MFA. (Accession Date: February 15, 1917)