Green Tara

This thangka painting represents one of the most celebrated Buddhist deity, goddess Tara.

In Buddhist tradition goddess Tara has several manifestations, though the main among them are her green and white forms. This thangka represents her green form. Tara, a term developed from ‘Tar’, meaning help wade across, was initially worshipped as the goddess of navigators helping them successfully accomplish their voyages. For highlighting this aspect of the goddess the thangka paints behind her a sea-like waving blue background contained within the golden arch defining the universe that goddess Tara pervades. Subsequently she emerged as the deity, and the most powerful one among all female Buddhist divinities, who helped wade across the tumultuous sea of this material world and the cycle of life and death. Revived an old cult or originated a new, Dipankar Asita played the pilot role in the development of Tara cult.