Durga Mahishasuramardini

Virupaksha Temple, Pattadakal

This much-admired statue of Durga, in the small north shrine of the temple, has unusually been fashioned in the round, rather than as a relief. Its use of through-cut negative space is atypical for stone sculpture in any period of Indian art.

The subject is Durga as slayer of the buffalo demon, who is represented as a human figure with buffalo horns. The rhythm, vitality, and dynamic realism of the composition is exceptional.