Painting Set: Green Tara 1
Green Tara Set 1 | Tara Main Page | Tara Outline PageThese impressive large format paintings each depicting a single central Green Tara along with one thousand and eight small images of Tara would have hung in a large hall. The original intention would have been merit creating but also decorative.
The only differences between the paintings are found with the small figure at the lower front of the throne: Kurukulla, Krodha Kali and Vajrayogini. At least four of these paintings are known to exist in museums and private collections.
There are four almost identical known paintings from the set. The others belong to the Rubin Museum of Art in New York, the Hahn Foundation Collection in Korea and, the third and fourth, private collectors in the United States. Each painting appears identical except for the deity directly beneath the large central figure of Tara. For the Rubin painting the deity is Kurukulla, for the Hahn Collection painting it is Shri Devi Magzor Gyalmo, for the Field Museum it is Krodha Kali (Varahi), and for the private collection painting it is Vajrayogini.
Completely surrounding the large central Tara are 1,008 small Taras, identical in form, with the right hands performing the gesture of generosity (without a lotus), the left holding to the heart the stem of a lotus blossom. Framed with an aureola and nimbus, alternating in colour, each figure sits above a white flower seat, all neatly arranged in rows. In each of the four directions are large rainbow spheres containing groups of Taras seated on large pink lotus flowers. In the sphere above are 47 Taras, below 127 Taras, at the left and right 78 Taras each. 350 Taras occupy the upper sides and 328 the lower sides.
Jeff Watt 4-2007
