Ashtamahabhaya Tara

This Tibetan tangka was likely based on a north Indian pata painting, but as such works no longer survive, we are limited to comparisons with palm-leaf manuscript illustrations. Here Tara offers salvation while also protecting the devotee from harm and evil; along either side are representations of Tara related to each of the eight great perils. She sits with her hand in varada mudra (boon-giving gesture) on a lotus throne in a stylized mountain grotto in the magical Khadira grove (note the foliage at top). The Indian monk Atisha, who is probably one of the two monks shown in the mountains, venerated Tara of the Khadira grove, who appeared in his dreams and advocated his traveling to Tibet to bring Buddhist teachings. Flanking Tara are protective goddesses, and in the top register are the five celestial Buddhas, or Tathagatas. Typical of Tibetan tangkas of this period, a monk is shown at the base with ritual implements followed by a row of six-armed protective deities.