The upper centre depicts Amitabha Buddha, surrounded with clouds. The bottom left corner depicts Manjushri the Bodhisattva of Wisdom, while the lower right corner depicts wrathful Vajrapani. The painting is mounted in brocades depicting stylized vishva vajra.
The cult of Tara was propagated by Atisha Dipankara in the Land of Snows. He dedicated a hymn to her and it has been continuously commented upon by Tibetan scholar for a millennium. She became one of the most popular deities of Tibet after her two principal forms, White and Green, were assimilated to the two wives of the first great Tibetan emperor. The Mahavairochana-sutra relates her name to tara pupils of the eyes. The Manjushri-mula-kalpa calls her "the compassion of Avalokiteshvara." She is the active power of the compassion look diffused over all the points of space to save suffering creatures. She is the force of compassion that saves the afflicted. Her manifold refractions are epiphanies of the serene strength of compassionate intuition. The goddess emerged as a merciful and benevolent helper of every soul in torment. She takes an active part in the lives of her devotees, and is ever ready to save them from disasters as they invoke her with faith.
Nagarjuna gives a detailed interpretation of Green Tara in a work of his in the Tanjur the goddess has a single face because the global knowledge of things is gnosis. The green colour points to the power of performing every kind of action. Green is, in fact, also the colour of Amoghasiddhi, a Buddha of the supreme pentad who presides over action. Her hands are two the one on the right is the symbol of the relative or conventional truth, the one of the left is the symbol of the transcendent or absolute truth. Her right leg is stretched or pendant because the gnosis symbolized by Tara implies the renunciation of all kinds of sin. Her left leg is bent towards her body because this gnosis realized every kind of virtue. Her ornaments mean the perfection of knowledge and moral praxis. Her right hand is in the attitude of gift in order to point out that the perfection of liberality (dana-paramita) should be a companion gnosis; her left hand is in the attitude of protection because it protects creatures from all kinds of fear. She holds the lotus flower in order to show that from her all beings, taking refuge in her, derive their blessedness. She is conceived as being sixteen years old (the years of eternal youth, kishora) because she has the power to realize the welfare of all.
All the figures in the painting are finely drawn and painted. The painting is very suitable of sadhana and practice of the Goddess.
Select Bibliography
Barbara Lipton & Nima D. Ragnubs, Treasures of Tibetan Art, New York, 1996
Ben Meulenbeld, Buddhist Symbolism in Tibetan Thangka, Holland, 2001
J.C. Huntington and D. Bangdel, The Circle of Bliss: Buddhist Meditational Art, Ohio, 2004
Lokesh Chandra, Transcendental Art of Tibet, Delhi, 1996
Marylin M. Rhie & Robert A.F. Thurman, Wisdom and Compassion: The Sacred Art of Tibet, Thames and Hudson, 1996
Marylin M. Rhie & Robert A.F. Thurman, Worlds of Transformation: Tibetan Art of Wisdom and Compassion, New York, 1999
This description is by Dr. Shailendra K. Verma, whose Doctorate thesis is on "Emergence and Evolution of the Buddha Image (From its inception to 8th century A.D.)".
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