The renowned ancient writer and the court poet of the great king Harshavardhana, Banabhatta among his various works, is also credited with the creation of the “Chandi-Shatakam”- a hundred name in the praise of Chandi, a ferocious aspect of goddess Durga.
One of the epithets used for the great-goddess is- “Bhuja-Vanam” or the forest (Vana) of Bhuja (arms). This salient title for Mahadevi Durga is inspired by her multiple armed forms in arts and literature where she is presented as Chaturbhuja (four-armed), Ashtabhuja (eight-armed), Dashabhuja (ten-armed), and eighteen armed forms.
The multitude of Devi’s arms behind her persona in numerous icons is delineated with such artistic skill, that they appear as the rays of the sun, surrounded by which the goddess shines like thousand-suns.
In this astonishing Panchaloha bronze goddess Durga statue, her depiction as a forest of arms has been given a stupefying form with her thirty-two arms.
The many hands of Mahadevi Durga in this Panchaloha icon are a representation of her cosmic divinity, which a human form cannot justify. Enhancing the gloriousness of Devi’s rare thirty-two armed form is a fiery aureole around her embellished with Makara (mythical composite animals) on the base and Kirtimukha (face of glory) on the top.
The row of stylized flames on the exterior of the aureole is paralleled by lotus petals on the inside, giving a splendid visual effect to this bronze Maa Durga statue. Goddess Durga wearing an imposing crown with flaming ornamentation and queenly fineries sits authoritatively on her Simha who appears to be roaring.
A riveting smile is carved on Devi Durga’s face, who has her Trishula (trident) placed on the shoulder of Mahishasura, who lies stunted under the goddess’s leg. The demon-king is represented in this Panchaloha goddess Durga bronze composite in a zoo-anthropomorphic form, with the body of a man and the head of the water buffalo or Mahisha.
He has a shield and sword in his hand and appears to be struggling to catch sight of his vanquisher. Maa Mahishasuramardini, whose powers rule over even the great gods laughs knowingly at his attempts, a laugh that has been memorialized in this rare, one-of-a-kind bronze icon, which reassures the devotees of the incomprehensible nature of Mahashakti Durga.
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