Goddess standing on a mountaintop

c. 1720

attributed to Master of the court of Mandi

(Indian)

Culture

Northern India, Pahari kingdoms

Medium

Gum tempera and gold on paper

Measurements

Page: 28.1 x 18.4 cm (11 1/16 x 7 1/4 in.); Image: 24.9 x 15.3 cm (9 13/16 x 6 in.)

Credit Line

Purchase and partial gift from the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection; Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund 2018.98

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Location

242B Indian Painting

Did You Know?

The Goddess is wearing a garland of corpses.

Description

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.