Tantric Devi on Shiva, from a Mandi Devi Series

Showing her utter superiority over the male god, the blue-skinned goddess, Devi, lunges with fangs bared and tongue lolling on the supine body of Shiva, stretched on a burning pyre. In one hand she holds the sword she used to decapitate the demon whose head she triumphantly grasps in her left hand. In the other two hands she holds shears and a noose. Her garment is a tiger skin; her garland consists of severed heads; and her torque is a cobra. As the personification of divine energy—shakti in Sanskrit—Devi appears active, while the male principle, personified as her consort Shiva, is like a corpse (shava).