The statue depicting Goddess Durga as Mahishasuramardini stands in the inner sanctum of the Shiva Temple located on the Prambanan Temple complex in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The inner sanctum has four chambers, each of which faces a cardinal direction and houses a statue. The Durga statue is in the north-facing chamber.

The sculpture depicts Goddess Durga slaying Mahishasura, an evil demon who took the form of a buffalo. Because of this feat, she is known as Mahishasuramardini. The word Mahishasuramardini is a concatenation of three Sanskrit words: mahisha (buffalo), asura (demon), and mardini (slayer). The slaying of Mahishasura is all about the triumph of good over evil and is based on an episode narrated in the Devi Mahatmya, a part of Markandeya Purana.

Created by Vishnu, Shiva, and Brahma, and the other gods by combining their energies, Durga is a Hindu goddess of war who symbolizes Shakti (roughly translates as power and strength).

The other three statues in the Shiva Temple are: the statue of Shiva facing east, statue of Shiva’s son Ganesha facing west, statue of Agastya facing south.

#prambanan #ancienthistory #hindu #ganesha #durga #agastya #shiva #yogyakarta

свернуть