Green Tara

About this Brooklyn Icon

The Brooklyn Museum is commemorating its 200th anniversary by spotlighting 200 standout objects in its encyclopedic collection.

This Indian sculpture is one of the earliest surviving representations of Tara, Buddhism’s goddess of compassion. Goddesses are rare in Buddhism, but female power—by turns fierce and nurturing—became important in the teachings of esoteric schools that developed in India and the Himalayas.

Tara’s manifestations are differentiated by color. Green Tara is the most popular; in unpainted sculptures she can be identified by the half-open lotus she holds. This example draws inspiration from images of ancient South Asian nature goddesses. Depicted as voluptuous to represent fertility, and wearing sumptuous jewels to represent abundance, these goddesses granted good health and plentiful agriculture. Buddhists pray to Tara for the same things, as well as for long life and protection.

With her relaxed pose and slight smile, Tara appears approachable and nurturing. In contrast, a small figure of a multiarmed, dancing goddess appears at lower right. With her bulging eyes and slightly opened mouth, this little goddess represents the more aggressive side of feminine energy.

The eastern Indian state of Odisha, where this monumental image was carved, was an early center for the study and propagation of esoteric Buddhism, known as Vajrayana. After the 8th century, Odishan monasteries lost their funding sources and gradually closed. But the teachings embodied in this sculpture were transferred north to the Pala empire of Bihar and Bengal, and then to Nepal and Tibet.