An illustration from a Devi Mahatmya series: Devi in combat with an army of demons Kangra, circa 1820


gouache and gold on paper, blue border, verso seven lines of text in takri script, numbered 11 in the upper border 216 x 285 mm.
|The Devi Mahatmya is part of the Markandeya Purana, which mostly relates to the myths surrounding Vishnu. As such, it formed the basis of the Shakti cult and was particularly popular in the Punjab Hills.For other pages in this series, see Joachim Bautze, Lotosmond und Lowenritt: Indische Miniaturmalerei, Stuttgart, 1991, nos 15-18 and F. S. Aijazuddin, Pahari Paintings and Sikh portraits in the Lahore Museum, London, 1977, pl. 41 (I-XXXIV), pp. 41-52. See also Sotheby's, New York, December 14, 1979, lots 229 & 230 and Sotheby's, London, April 24, 1979, lots 141 & 142.