Sita Tara – The White Tara
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Emporium
Orientation 2
Furniture 6

ABS 086

 Code: ABS 086

  Country: India (north-east)

  Style: Late Pala Style

  Date: 1050 - 1150

  Dimensions in cm WxHxD: 3 x 4.8 x 2.3

  Materials: Brass

Sita Tara – The White Tara

Sita Tara or “the White liberator” is one of the famous manifestation of Tara (Drölma in Tibetan), possibly the most important female deity of all Buddhism. She is especially invoked for longevity.

Young and beautiful, she sits on a lotus pedestal with her legs crossed in meditation. Her right hand forms the mudra of generosity, and with her left, she holds the stem of a white lotus, the three raised fingers representing the three jewels: Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. In the royal attire of the divine manifestation, she has seven eyes, three on her face, two in the palm of her hands and two on the sole of her feet.

Tara is a bodhisattva who, according to tradition, vowed to manifest as a female until all beings are liberated from samsara. The devotion for Tara was popularised in Tibet by the Indian scholar Atisha (982-1054). There are a multitude of aspects of Tara –green, white, 21 manifestations, etc.–  each with a different appearance and function, and the Green or “Dark” Tara is the source of them all.