ao 



Account of Mamallaipur. 



[No. 30. 



came to carry them to his master, to punish them for daring 

 to appeal to Vishnu. The other figure at the feet of Vishnu 

 hereupon interposed, and being one of Vishnu's attendants, 

 drove from his master's presence, the presumptuous servant 

 of the wicked Mahishasura. The expression and postures of 

 the figures do certainly seem to correspond with the story ; 

 but the tale itself suits ill the position and circumstances of 

 Vishnu Narayan, which no doubt is represented in this sculp- 

 ture. 



The sculptures on the opposite or north eastern end of the 

 temple, represent the conflict between Durga, (a personifica- 

 tion* of active, not passive, virtue), and Mahishasura, (a per- 

 sonification of wickedness.) These figures merit particular 

 description. 



The recess in which they are sculptured is 12 feet 9 inches 

 loug, and 8 feet high. To the left is seen Durga, mounted on 

 what is intended for a fierce lion. To the right is Mahisha- 

 sura grasping a short thick club. The figure of Durga is 5 

 feet high and eight handed : two of her arms have greater 

 relief than the others, a' circumstance which imparts to the 

 figure a much greater appearance of truth and nature than 

 would otherwise be the case. The left principal arm is stretch- 

 ed at full length, and the hand grasps a bow : the right arm 

 is drawn back, as if in the act of discharging an arrow : but we 

 see neither the arrow nor the string of the bow. Her six. re- 

 maining hands hold respectively, on the left, a bell, a chank, 

 and something not easily distinguishable ; and on the right, the 

 fatal cord, (pasha,) a chakra, (discus), and a sword. Mahisha- 



* " The Devatas are represented as good beings, the Asuras as evil ones, in so far 

 " only as there is any countenance to the fiction of personified virtue and vice. That 

 " fiction is European, All that J have ever read makes the Asuras blameable because of 

 " acquired power ; and power is subdued by superior skill or force. In some instance* 

 " the Asuras are described as cheated, injured, oppressed, rebelling in consequence, 

 " and then subdued and destroyed. The story of Durga and Mahishasura is the sub- 

 "jectof the Chaadi pdVh of the Scanda purana ; and is the great occasion of celebra- 

 " tion at Calcutta in the Durga puja feast, which is anything but virtuous." W. T. 



