Dating from circa 550 CE, the Devimahatmya (Glory of the Goddess) is a devotional text of 700 Sanskrit verses that extol the Goddess (Devi) as the supreme power and creator of the universe. The verses were interpolations to the earlier Markandeya Purana dating from circa 250 CE and then extracted as a stand-alone text. The Devimahatmya describes the Goddess in her various aspects triumphing over the demons Madhu and Kaitabha, Mahishasura, Dhumralochana, Chanda and Munda, Raktabija, and Shumbha and Nishumbha.
Here, the Goddess Ambika is leading the Mother Goddesses (Matrikas) in battle against the demon Raktabija. The eight-armed Goddess rides a white lion and slays a horde of demons with the assorted weapons she wields. Behind Ambika is Kalika drinking the blood of her enemies, Indrani riding an elephant, and the boar-headed Varahi riding a buffalo. In the upper register from left to right are the horrific Chamunda wearing a garland of skulls, the green-skinned Vaishnavi riding the half-avian, half-man Garuda, the red-skinned Kaumari riding a peacock, the white-skinned Maheshvari riding a bull, the yellow-skinned Brahmani riding a gander, and a horde of slain demons. Descriptive textual verses are inscribed on the reverse.
See its series mate M.2001.229.5. Additional folios from this dispersed series are in the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco (1996.15), San Diego Museum of Art (1990.166), and University of Michigan Museum of Art (1970/2.148).
