An episode from the Vamana Purana describes the divine form of the Hindu mother goddess Durga as Katyayani, who descended from the Vindhya Mountains on the request of the gods to slay the demon king Mahishasura, radiant like thousand suns with the weapons of gods in her eighteen hands haloing her roopa. In this Panchaloha bronze icon of eighteen-armed goddess Durga, she is sculpted in a stunning standing posture, on an upturned lotus pedestal embellished with the buffalo-head of Mahishasura, accompanied by her Simha (lion) placed on an independent platform behind the Devi.
This iconography of Durga Amman draws from the Patteeshwaram Durgai Amman statue from her temple in Tamil Nadu, in which the goddess victoriously stands on the head of the vanquished Mahishasura, a stimulating visualization of the eternally victorious Shakti. In this roopa, the Adi-Shakti (primordial energy) is called Durga Amman or simply Amman (mother) in Southern India.
Her ethereal multiple arm forms are a reminder of her fierceness and omnipresence as a mother which protects her children from all the seen and unseen enemies. The goddess in this bronze Durga icon is beautified by a royal Kiritamukuta (Vaishnavite crown), gold dehri (disc-shaped earrings), three exquisite gold necklaces, Kucchabandha (breast band), Yajnopavita (sacred thread), armlets and bracelets in all her hands.
In each of her eighteen hands, Durga Amman carries a unique attribute related to creation or destruction, presented to her by a Deva (god), holding the potency of that god within itself. A simple dhoti (lower body garment) is worn by the great goddess, who smiles enchantingly.
Emanating the glistening glory of Mahadevi (great goddess), this bronze Durga Maa is a potent warning to the forces of evil and a heavenly presence in the home of her devotee.
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