A small 1600-year-old sculpture depicting a Mahishasura Mardini – a Hindu mythological deity – holding a trident, was discovered in an abandoned and devastated temple in Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh state of India.

The sculpture was found in Gurajalamma temple in Gurajala. The figure is seen with a sari and all ornaments and killing the demon, Mahishasura, piercing him with the trident. She holds a sword in her right hand and the tail of the demon, in the shape of a buffalo, in her left hand. She holds a trident and a mace in her additional two hands. The object measures 10 by 18 by 1 centimetres and was carved in limestone. Researchers state that the iconographical style of the sculpture suggests that it was made in 4th century AD and the style in which the small head gear, necklace, ear ornaments, bangles and armlets of the Mahishasura were depicted is identical to the style of Vishnukindinas.

(after Deccan Chronicle)