Rakshasas
c. 10th century
Sandstone

India (probably Madhya Pradesh)

Feasting on human body parts, these cadaverous rakshasas (malicious spirits) are also attendants of terrifying yet protective deities such as the goddess Kali (and her variant Chamunda). In fact, this sculpture is a fragment from a large image depicting such a deity who once wore a garland of skulls and stood on a corpse (only parts of the garland and the corpses’ head remain).