JOIN US FOR AN ANCIENT EXPEDITION ON AN UPCOMING TOUR
By Derek Olson
Now on display at the Museum of Bhubaneswar in Odisha, India, it still strikes fear in the hearts of nervous onlookers.
Depicting the goddess Chamunda, the powerful destroyer of evil, this statue was discovered in the town of Dharamsala, which is located in the state of Odisha, India. It is guesstimated to date from approx 700 AD.
Chamunda, also pronounced ‘Chamundeshwari,’ is a fearsome form of ‘Chandi,’ the Hindu Divine Mother, and one of the seven Matrikas or mother goddesses.
Chamunda is a combination of Chanda and Munda, the two nefarious demon-monsters whom Chamunda slaughtered by decapitation.
Chamunda embodies bareness and decay. Her skeletal cheekbones protrude below her menacingly sunken eye sockets.
With her top arms severed and veins bulging from her extremities, she is adorned by a coiled necklace of skulls.
The starkness and uncompromising horror of this ancient work of art leads the honest observer to wonder about otherworldly supernatural realms…
But wait, there’s more… what is that emerging from her chest?
Sources
📷 2-6 @ K J S Chatrath
https://indianheritagephotos.blogspot.com/2019/06/goddess-chamunda-by-k-j-s-chatrath.html?m=1
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/38152
megalithicmarvels.com 