Standing in gentle Tribhanga on a round lotus base, her right hand lowered in Varadamudra, her left hand raised in Vitarkamudra holding a lotus stem that blossoms at her left shoulder. She is dressed in a diaphanous Sanghati adorned with sashes and a jewelled belt at her waist, several necklaces, bracelets and armlets adorn her body, her wide face with straight nose and gently slanted eyes flanked by large earrings inset with semi-precious stones and surmounted by a foliate tiara, also with semi-precious stones and an elaborate top knot, with tresses of hair trailing to curls at her shoulders.
Details
- Title : TARA
- Year : 16th or 17th Century
- Classification : Sculpture
- Medium : Gilt-bronze inlaid with semi-precious stones
- Dimension : Height 8 in. (20.3 cm.)
- Accession No : GNM_LOT 100_PUN_45
- Country/ Geo-location : Nepal
- Collection : PUNDOLE’S
- Status : LIVE AUCTION The Art of the Himalayas from the Collection of Roshan Sabavala (M0009) (as per DEC 2021)
- ESTIMATED : ₹500,000 - ₹700,000
- SOLD : ₹1,200,000
- NOTE : According to Buddhist tradition, Tara was born out of the tears of compassion of the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara. It is said that he wept as he looked upon the world of suffering beings, and his tears formed a lake in which a lotus sprung up. When the lotus opened, the goddess Tara was revealed. Tara is Sanskrit for 'star' or 'constellation' and also relates to the verb tar, meaning to 'lead over or guide across'. Thus the goddess' name indicates her role as a beacon on the Buddhist path to Enlightenment.