Sculptures from Angkor National Museum:
Our look at the collection of the Angkor National Museum continues with this sculpture of Durga Mahishasurmardini, the demon-buffalo slayer, which is dated to around the third quarter of the 7th century and was originally housed in the collection of the National Museum in Phnom Penh. It arrived at the capital at the beginning of 1920 but its provenance is not complete and records show it came from somewhere in Kompong Cham. It was one of the museum’s original exhibits when it opened that same year. Now it’s been on loan to the Angkor museum since 2007 as Phnom Penh’s existing Durga collection is of a very high quality.
The sculpture is just over three feet in height, made of sandstone and most likely had four arms when complete. Her arms and attributes – probably a conch, a ball, disc and a club, of which only the base remains, have been lost, but would’ve replicated the attributes of Vishnu, though she is the shakti, or the cosmic feminine energy of the god Shiva. Her miter headdress which she is wearing is also similar to Vishnu. Durga was quite literally created with the purpose of slaying the buffalo demon Mahisha by the combined energies of Vishnu, Shiva, Brahma, and the lesser gods, who were powerless to defeat him, and the gods endowed Durga with everything she would need to succeed in saving the world. After a fierce battle Durga subdued Mahisha and saved the world; her defeat of the demon is indicated by the head of the buffalo carved on the plinth upon which she stands. Her benign face, with closed eyes and rounded cheeks, confirms her youthful appearance, complemented by her slender hips and breasts close together. Her sampot is simple with a large falling pleat etched into the stone. The earliest picture of her was taken in 1921 by the EFEO.
