South-Indian Images of Gods and Goddesses c10.s2.43

c10.s2.43

Mahishāsuramardinī (also called Chāmundā, Chandī) is represented in the Nrisimhaprasāda as the youthful but angry form of Pārvatī with three broad eyes, a slender waist, heaving breasts, one face and twenty hands. Below her is the buffalo-demon with his head cut off and rolling on the ground. A man emerging from the buffalo’s neck is seen holding a weapon in his hand, abject with fear. Pierced by the trident of the goddess, he is vomiting blood. The lion too on which Chandikā is riding attacks the giant with its mouth while the noose held by the goddess is tightly fastened round his neck. The goddess’s right leg is placed on the lion while the other steps on the body of the demon.¹ This form of Chandī is propitiated by those who wish to destroy their enemies. The ruling family of Mysore has Chāmuṇḍā-Chandī for its tutelary deity.