Textile Panel with Demonic Battle Scenes, Likely from the Devi Mahatmya

Textile Panel with Demonic Battle Scenes, Likely from the Devi Mahatmya

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This remarkably fine Nepalese figurative embroidery is a rare survivor of an important genre of textile art. The fragment may have formed part of a religious hanging associated with a Hindu temple. The scenes, while incomplete, likely represent episodes of the goddess Durga battling demons from the Devi Mahatmya, the principal liturgical text devoted to the goddess in this emanation.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Textile Panel with Demonic Battle Scenes, Likely from the Devi MahatmyaTextile Panel with Demonic Battle Scenes, Likely from the Devi MahatmyaTextile Panel with Demonic Battle Scenes, Likely from the Devi MahatmyaTextile Panel with Demonic Battle Scenes, Likely from the Devi MahatmyaTextile Panel with Demonic Battle Scenes, Likely from the Devi Mahatmya

The Met's collection of Asian art—more than 35,000 objects, ranging in date from the third millennium B.C. to the twenty-first century—is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world. Each of the many civilizations of Asia is represented by outstanding works, providing an unrivaled experience of the artistic traditions of nearly half the world.