Rowland, BenjaminPhotographer: Arthur Llewellyn Basham2019-10-152019-10-151953IM-915http://hdl.handle.net/1885/176752The goddess is represented standing on the severed bull head of the demon Mahisha, an episode from Puranic legend. She is 8-armed, & holds the bow, discus and trident lent her by Siva and Vishnu for the epic struggle. Her ornaments include a towering head-dress (karana mukhuta), necklaces and jewelled beltand her arms are covered with bracelets like those of the Dancing Girl from Mohenjodaro. This figure, like all Pallava sculpture, belongs to the earliest and classic phase of Dravidian art. Ultimately it is an outgrowth of the later Andhra style in the elongation of the form with long tubular limbs, but the whole conception is invested with a peculiarly dynamic quality that is always characteristic of Dravidian Hindu art. We can see once more in this single figure the suggestion of the emergence of the form from stone. Certain aspects of the figural canon differ from earlier practice, as may be discerned in the heart-shaped face already noted at Mamallapuram. The figure of the Triumphant Goddess has a militant energy conveyed by the moving pose and deployment of the arms in a kind of aureole. This is combined with a suggestion of complete serenity and feminine softness, as is entirely appropriate to the conception of the divinity.35mmmounted transparencyb&wimage/tiffen-AUSouth India-- Sculpture - South Indiastone sculpturebook scan2019-10-15This item is provided for research purposes. Contact the Australian National University Archives at butlin.archives@anu.edu.au for permission to use.