Mahishasura defeated by Durga, anonymous9th–10th century sculpture
Northern India Kashmir or Himachal Pradesh schist sculpture,9th–10th century. Durga pins the buffalo demon; human demonic form emerges beside the buffalo body. Fragmented goddess arms/legs are damage, not proposed anatomy. Museum1982.45 explicitly identifies Mahishasura and permits unrestricted copying/modification/distribution under CC0.
Overview
Mahiṣa attacks the goddess’s troops in buffalo form, using his muzzle, hooves, tail, horns, breath and bellow. His movements break the earth, his tail drives the sea outward and his horns throw mountains. These are the cosmic-scale actions of Medhas’s sacred narrative.
Caught in the goddess’s noose, he becomes a lion, then an armed man, then an elephant whose trunk she cuts, and finally a buffalo again. She pins his neck with her foot and strikes with her spear; as he partly emerges from his own mouth, she beheads him. The sequence distinguishes successive transformations from a permanent composite anatomy.
Origins & earliest records
South Asian Hindu sacred narrative
Records & interpretation
Full relevant hosted Pargiter passages directly read; Medhas’s narration within the Markandeya Purana.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
The Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa
Canto 83; historical English edition date, not Sanskrit composition date.
Family & connections
A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.
Primary records and illustrations
The Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa, Pargiter translation
Devī-Māhātmya; hosted 1904 translation. Canto 83
Full relevant chapter narrative directly read on Wisdomlib; source-specific translation and narrator retained; no illustration claimed.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Historical primary religious-text translationPargiter, Markandeya Purana — canto 83Research access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
Historical illustrationMahishasura defeated by Durga, anonymous9th–10th century sculpture
Northern India Kashmir or Himachal Pradesh schist sculpture,9th–10th century. Durga pins the buffalo demon; human demonic form emerges beside the buffalo body. Fragmented goddess arms/legs are damage, not proposed anatomy. Museum1982.45 explicitly identifies Mahishasura and permits unrestricted copying/modification/distribution under CC0.
