Durga as Mahisasuramardini, Hoysala period, 1240-60, Victoria and Albert Museum.
The goddess Durga represents the shakti or female energy of the god Shiva. Here she is shown in her ferocious form as the slayer of the shape-shifting demon Mahishasura. She kills him as he emerges from his buffalo guise. The flamboyant style of the figure is characteristic of the Hoysala dynasty in southern Karnataka, India.