Although small in scale, palm-leaf manuscript illuminations are among the most significant paintings surviving from medieval India. This one is part of a recently acquired group of thirty-nine pages that are a major addition to our holdings of Indian art. These miniatures are distinguished by their superb condition, brilliant, saturated color, exquisite draftsmanship, and, in some instances such as this, unusual composition. Several characteristics, such as the portrayal of deities within shrines and the use of stylized mountain staves, indicate that the manuscript was most likely produced in the former state of Bengal. The coloristic sensibility of these illuminations is close to that of early Tibetan thankas, which were probably inspired by paintings from that region.

This miniature shows a voluptuous Tara, attended by two blue-skinned goddesses, bending down to bestow boons on a group of adorants. An elaborate halo behind her upper body is surmounted by an umbrella, a sign of royalty. The red background of the lower section emphasizes the ecstatic nature of the event, while the upper section is filled with a swirling vegetative motif. The image and another from the manuscript that features a bodhisattva in a similar attitude are the earliest surviving depictions of this subject, which was known only from a fifteenth-century Nepalese painting.