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Mahisamardini-Durga in Odishan Iicongraphy October - 2013 Odisha Review Mahisamardini-Durga in Odishan Iconography Rabindra Kumar Behuria In India the antiquity of worship of Mahisasura exportable region and saviour from crisis. In the mardini Durga goes back to the remote past. The Vedas She is described as Aranyani i.e. the original Devi-Mahatmya section of the goddess of the forest. This reference is also found Brahmananda Puran in the Chandi, Uma/Hemavati. Her another name speaks of the various early is found in the Upanishad. forms of the Goddess, There is also mention of such as Mahisamardini, Durga in Taittariya the Matrika and Aranyak’s Narayan Chamunda etc. T.A. Upanishad and in the Gopinath Rao has Vaksakha of the Rig Veda. collected many other forms In the Markandeya Purana and names of the Deity there is a chapter called along with Her Devi Mahatmya i.e. ‘the iconographical details from glories of the goddess'. Here She declares that oh the agamas. Different Gods, I shall nourish the literary works describe whole world with life various iconic types of the sustaining vegetables deity. The difference lies in grown out of my own body the number of hands and during the heavy rains in ayudhas attributed to the monsoon. I shall then earn Devi. In Odisha we find fame as Sakambari i.e. Mahisamardini Durga “herb bearing”. A popular images having two to form of Durga, twenty arms with various Mahisamardini plays a vital ayudhas ranging from role not only in the spiritual very early time to modern period. life, but also in the socio-religious life of the Odishan people from the earliest time to the The meaning of the word is very complex. present day. The Primary function of the deity is She is described as the presiding deity of an un to combat demons who threaten the stability of 37 Odisha Review October - 2013 the cosmos. In this role She is represented as a Jahambira in the district of Keonjhar. She holds a great battle queen with many arms each of which sword in Her upper right hand, a shield in the left wields a weapon. She mounts on a fierce lion upper hand, the trident in the right fore arm piercing and is described as irresistible in battle. She is the neck of the buffalo headed demon. Here the most famous for killing Mahisasura, the buffalo demon is half animal and half human a sword in demon. Her most popular epithet is one of his hands. Lion is absent here. This image Mahisasuramardini, the slayer of Mahisasura and may be placed to the post Gupta period. Another Her most common iconographic representation two-armed image of the same period in noticed shows Her killing the demon. at Someswar in the district of Puri. In Odisha we find reflection of evolution A four-handed Durga image in profile is of all types of Durga and Mahisasuramardini icons worshipped by the villagers of Ranipur in Bolangir in sculptural representation. From a stratified deposit Dr. N.K.Sahu has unearthed a two district. The sculpture is kept under a tree near handed Durga image in archer’s pose from the collapsed pillared Jagamohana of a Siva temple Maraguda valley of Nuapada district. There is an to the west of the village. As the bottom portion inscription on the pedestal of the deity which reads of this sculpture is buried underneath the earth, as “Maheswari Bhavada”. Dr. Sahu has identified Her Vahana lion is not visible. The goddess is the image as the family deity of the Nalas and has wearing Hara, Aksamala on Her wrist, arms and attributed to 5th century A.D on palaeographic waist portion and anklets on her feet. Both Her ground. This is the earliest two handed Durga lower hands are placed on the knee-portion of image of Odisha recovered from a stratified the left-leg, which is raised and placed on the chest deposit with inscriptional reference. It is four feet of the demon, Mahisasura. A snake (Sarpa) is high, two armed and stands in alidha posture attacking the demon from the back portion of his facing right while the lion at Her feet faces left. head. The Sarpa is most probably hold by Devi From 6th-17th century onwards we find in Her upper left hand, which is broken. The representation of Mahisamardin Durga in most upper right hand is raised, but the object in it is Siva and Sakta temples. not clear. The peculiarity of this sculpture of Mahisamardini Durga is that the Trisula (Long Biraja at Jajpur, the earliest Sakta Shrine trident) is not there in the hands of the goddess. in Odisha is a two armed Durga engaged in killing the buffalo demon. Riding on a lion, She holds a Another four handed Durga in Her spear (sula) in Her right hand which pierces the Mahisasurmardini aspect is enshrined in a separate body of the buffalo demon and pulls its tail in shrine to the north of the brick built Jagamohana Her left hand. Her right foot presses the head of of the Kosalesvara temple at Vaidyanath in the animal. The date of the image is assignable to Sonepur district. In Her up-raised proper right pre-Gupta or Gupta period. R.P. Chand indicates hand is a khadga, while in the lower left hand is a that the two armed Durga appears to me to be Dhanu. She is holding a long trident in Her upper the earliest form of the goddess conceived by the left hand which is pierced into the mouth of the votaries and Biraja represents the earliest phase demon. In Her lower right hand She is holding of the cult of the goddess. the tail of Her Vahan-the lion. The Jatabhara Next in order of Chronology may be adorning Her head is specifically suggesting the placed an image of four-armed Variety at Panduvamsi feature, i.e of 7th-8th century A.D. 38 October - 2013 Odisha Review The six armed Mahisasuramardini Durga buffalo. The demon is depicted in the kneeling image found in the Parsurameswar temple of down position and being attacked by the goddess, Bhubaneswar dated to 6th/7th century A.D. is a Who has plunged the long trident deep into the beautiful figure of early Odishan art and face of the Mahisasura, while strangling his head iconographic tradition. From chest upward the by putting the serpent-noose-around his neck. deity is profusely decorated with beautiful head Her Vahan, the lion is seated in the left side of the dress, Karna Kundala, Mala and Kankan. The Panel, which seems quite unusual. The heavy deity is seen holding a sword in upper left hand earrings hanging from Her ears and the Karanda while in the upper right hand She is pressing the Mukuta on Devi’s head as well as absence of the face of the demon buffalo. In middle left hand Vidyadhara couple on both the topmost corners She is piercing the Trisula on the neck of the of the back-slab suggest an early dating i.e 7th/8th demon while in lower left hand She holds a century A.D for this image. This image was for pointed ayudha. In the right middle hand She is the first time reported by learned scholar Dr. holding khetaka while in the lower right hand She Jadumani Mohapatra. holds a bow. The representation of Mahisa is pathetic, being completely overpowered by the Ten-handed Durga is worshipped as th powerful Durga. The stylistic and flamboyant goddess Kusangei in a temple of the 11 century exposition of the deity is marvellous. We have at Kusang in Bolangir district, which temple is a several such other representations in Uttareswar prototype of Lingaraj temple of Bhubaneswar, temple and Mohini temple. Vaital temple of most probably built by the Somavamsi king Bhubaneswar was a famous Sakta centre. In this Yayati-II (Circa 1024-1060 A.D.), Patanesvari temple we find a rare Mahisasuramardini Durga enshrined in a temple at Patnagad is none else figure killing demon Mahisa. The general than ten-handed Durga in Her Mahisasuramardini composition of sculptural representation is Parsu- form. rameswar temple. Dasabhuja Mahisasuramardini was even An unique image of eight handed more common and more popular in Odisha. Mahisamardini Durga, of the height of around two Availability of this variety of image in different parts feet and a half and breadth of eighteen inches was of Odisha either as presiding deities or as side unearthed a couple of years back on the bank of deities indicates its wide distribution. She in this a rivulet Suvarnarekha (Mayabati) at Rampur, form is depicted as the war-goddess with full situated on the outskirt of Patnagarh town of energy produced from the flames of the Gods and Bolangir district. Objects hold by the Goddess in bearing the ayudhas of the Gods such as Shiva’s Her proper right hands from top to bottom are trident, Vishnu’s disc, Varun’s conch, Agni’s dart, khadga, sula, arrow, and the lowest one in Yama’s iron rod, Vayu’s bow, Surya’s arrow, Abhaya Mudra, while objects in proper left hands Indra’s thunderbolt, Kuver’s mace, and various are khetaka, Dhanu, Kunta and Nagapasa. In weapons of other gods. Of the numerous the proper right side of the Pedestal demon Mahisa Dasabhuja Mahisasuramardini images mention in the theriomorphic buffalo form is already may be made of the beautiful ones found at beheaded, as a result of which trembling down Pitapura, Lataharan, Niali, Jageswar on Prachi on its fore legs, and the anthromorphic form of valley, in Bhattarika temple near Baramba, Kanak the demon coming out from the cut neck of the Durga near Remuna in the district of Balasore, 39 Odisha Review October - 2013 Padhuan near Basudevpur at Bhadrak and at References: many other places.
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