A relief sculpture made of light red sandstone that shows a tall person at the center, standing on a smaller person and surrounded by other small figures. The tall person is holding small objects in their hands and is wearing beaded jewelry.
Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College

The light red sandstone relief sculpture is a wide, rectangular shape and light tan in color. At the center of the relief is a tall person standing with their legs bent and hip leaning to the left. Their arms are bent with their left elbow pointing out and their left hand in front of their face. Their right elbow points out and their right hand is holding a small object at their side. They are wearing a detailed belt and jewelry as well as long strands of beads hanging across them. They are standing on top of a smaller figure who is laying on their side with their hand holding their head. There are many smaller figures surrounding the central figure. The figures at the bottom are holding small objects and the figures at the top are standing on architectural platforms.

Gallery Text

With ten arms and an array of weapons to express her supernatural and ferocious nature, the goddess Chamunda dances before a backdrop teeming with creatures both natural and fantastic. Chamunda is a wrathful emanation of the Hindu goddess Kali and has both destructive and protective aspects. As related in the sixth-century text the Devi-Mahatmya, Chamunda takes her name from two demons, Chanda and Munda, whom she vanquishes in a great war. Here an emaciated body with an exaggerated rib cage conveys the insatiable hunger of the goddess, while human skulls and entwined snakes testify to her terrifying power. Sometimes the goddess stands on Shiva, who subdues her anger. But in this case the recumbent figure beneath her feet may represent one of the vanquished demons.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1974.64
Title
Architectural Relief with Chamunda
Classification
Sculpture
Work Type
sculpture, relief
Date
Chandela period, 10th-11th century
Places
Creation Place: South Asia, India, Northern India
Culture
Indian
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/202415

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Light red sandstone; from Khajuraho region, Northern India
Dimensions
67 x 52.7 x 18.5 cm (26 3/8 x 20 3/4 x 7 5/16 in.)
245 lb.

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Mr. and Mrs. Howard E. Houston, Meridan, CT (1960-1974), gift; to the Fogg Museum of Art.


Note: Mr. Houston the U.S. Agency for International Development in India, Korea and Peru.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Howard E. Houston
Accession Year
1974
Object Number
1974.64
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Descriptions

Commentary
Label text from exhibition “Re-View,” an overview of objects drawn from the collections of Harvard Art Museums, 26 April 2008 – 1 July 2013; label text written by Kim Masteller, Assistant Curator of Islamic and Later Indian Art, Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art:

Architectural Relief with Kali Dancing on Reclining Shiva
India, Madhya Pradesh, possibly Khajuraho, 10th–11th century
Light red sandstone
Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Howard E. Houston, 1974.64

Legs bent in movement, arms swirling with a cascade of weapons, the great goddess Kali dances upon the prostrate body of the god Shiva. Her emaciated body points to her fierce nature and her association with ghosts and other dan¬gerous beings. Kali is the one of the most powerful forms of devi, the goddess, in the Hindu tradition. In the sixth-century text the Devi Mahatmya, Kali emerges from the forehead of the goddess Durga in order to fight two powerful demons. She is worshipped throughout India, and particularly in the eastern state of Bengal, where she is regarded as a great, divine mother. This stele sculpture was likely created for the external niche of a central Indian temple and may have come from the Chandella dynastic capital of Khajuraho.

Publication History

  • Dr. Forrest McGill, ed., Beyond Bollywood: 2000 Years of Dance in the Arts of South Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Himalayan Region, exh. cat., Asian Art Museum of San Francisco (San Francisco, 2022), pp. 172-173, cat. 56
  • Harvard Art Museums: In Your Hands, Harvard Art Museums and GILES (Cambridge, 2025)

Exhibition History

  • S424: Indian and Southeast Asian Sculpture, Harvard University Art Museums, Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 10/20/1985 - 08/01/2008
  • Re-View: Arts of India & the Islamic Lands, Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 04/26/2008 - 06/01/2013
  • 32Q: 2590 South and Southeast Asia, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 11/16/2014 - 08/11/2022
  • Beyond Bollywood: 2000 Years of Dance in Art, Cincinnati Art Museum, 11/11/2022 - 02/05/2023; Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, 03/31/2023 - 07/10/2023

Subjects and Contexts

  • Google Art Project

Verification Level

This record was created from historic documentation and may not have been reviewed by a curator; it may be inaccurate or incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu