Durga

bronze
Eastern India (Orissa), 16th cent.
high: 12 cm.

Very nicely modelled bronze of Durga, slaying the demon Mahisha (Durga Mahishasuramardini). This demon, in the form of a buffalo, threatens the world, and Durga, with the weapons of the various Hindu-deities, succeeds in slaying him (his cut-off buffalo-head is seen below, on the lotus base!).