Elsewhere in narrative sculpture and painting, this story is often depicted through an image of graphic violence. In the previous slide, the beheading and conquest of the buffalo demon is subtly alluded to by the fact that the Goddess stands upon his head. This rendering at the great Shiva temple expresses a sense of harmony, and a victory that is satisfying to both parties in the drama.
The buffalo demon Mahisa is portrayed here in an unusually anthropomorphic and sensuous form, his curvaceous thigh and garment echoing those of the Goddess herself. His charmingly realistic face, including bovine eyes and drooping ear, speak to the persistent talent of Indians artists in rendering lifelike animal forms. The buffalo has so acquiesced to his defeat that also equates with his own spiritual liberation, that he is licking the foot of the Goddess which rests upon the shoulder.