Figure of Syama Tara (Green or Dark Tara)
Medium:Cast copper alloy (bronze?) with gilding, pigment and inlaid with turquoise and coral
Geography: Tibet
Date: 17th century AD
Dimensions:35 x 27 x 15.5 cm
Object number: 918.39.5
Credit Line: The George Crofts Collection
Gallery Location:Sir Christopher Ondaatje South Asian Gallery
DescriptionWidely worshipped as the Buddhist Goddess of Compassion, Tara is a female bodhisattva. She emerged from the tears shed by Avalokiteshvara for the suffering of all sentient beings. Tara takes many forms. This statue is of Green Tara. She is poised and alert, with her head tilted and one leg pendant in her customary posture of royal ease, and she holds lotuses and extends her palms in the gift-granting gesture.
