Himalayan Art Resources

Buddhist Deity: Tara, Green (Confusions)

Green Tara Iconography

Subjects, Topics & Types:
- Description (below)
- Physical Characteristics
--- Two Eyes
--- Frown
--- Colour
--- Red Palms
--- Gestures
--- Posture
--- Marks & Examples
- Attributes
--- Garments
--- Jewelry
--- Utpala Flowers
--- Halo & Torana
- Confusions: Janguli, Mahamayuri, Peaceful Vajrapani
- Others...

Video: Green Tara Confusions: Part 1 (HAR on Patreon)

There can at times be some confusion between the textual descriptions of Green Tara and the artistic depictions of Tara. Many of the confusions relate firstly to the technical iconographic descriptions originating in the source literature and secondly to the artistic freedom enjoyed by the artist based on the time period, region and amount of expressive freedom at the time of production. The actual points in question can be divided into physical characteristics and iconographic attributes.

Two Eyes:
There are a number of forms of Tara that have three eyes. The most common form is White Tara who often has seven eyes arranged on the body. Green Tara only has two eyes because that is what is stated in the ritual texts.

Frown:
Sometimes Tara is described as a having a frown. This characteristic is related to some of the various forms described in the Praise of the Twenty-one Taras. Green Tara typically does not have a frown.

Colour:
Defined by her name she is green in colour. There are of course many different shades of green and in literature she is often referred to as emerald in colour. Here emerald refers to a deep green, a forest green. In some texts she is described as turquoise in colour. Forest green, turquoise green, and emerald green are all considered very close in appearance. To add contrast artists will often use a lighter shade of green for the main torso and face and a darker shade for outlining and shadowed (shaded) areas of the body.

Red Palms:
There are many examples of Tara, be it green, white or other colours, where the palms of the hands and soles of the feet are red or pink in colour. The red palms are an artistic convention and followed by some painting traditions at certain periods of time before the styles changed. Painting styles have changed many times over the past one thousand years based on the examples currently known.

Hand Gestures:
With the two hands Tara performs specific gestures (mudra). Depending on the ritual text the attributes can be explained differently. For the right hand the position is typically and in most art depictions in the gesture of generosity with the fingers pointed downward and the palm facing outward. The alternate but less common position is the gesture of fearlessness, sometimes called a gesture of protection. The fingers are pointed upward and the palm is facing outward. There are examples of the Eight Taras along with a central Tara figure, in single painted compositions or sets of paintings, where the hands are not performing any standard gesture, iconographically described, but rather positioned naturally at the pleasure of the artist.

Sitting Posture:
The sitting posture of Tara is described in the ritual texts. The right leg is described as slightly extend in a relaxed manner, or as if she is about to stand. The left leg is slightly drawn inward sometimes described as being in a playful manner. The artists have freedom and flexibility in the interpretation of how far the right leg is extended. The left leg can be forward of the torso so long as it is not extended farther than the right leg. Some sculptural examples have the right leg extended out and downward. Other examples have the left knee raised.

Marks & Examples:
In a few ritual texts and in many commentaries, after the general physical characteristics of Tara are described, then it is further stated that Tara also has fully the thirty-two major and eighty minor marks of a fully realized buddha. This of course is meant abstractly and not intended to be understood literally with Tara displaying the ushnisha, urna, three lines of the neck, arms extending to the knees along with webbed fingers and toes.

Garments:
The garments worn by Tara are described as being of the finest silk in the manner of heavenly garments. Rarely are colours mentioned or stipulated. Garment colours in paintings are chosen by the artist at their discretion. There are however a certain number of garments, ribbons and shawls that the artist must account for according to the guidelines of peaceful appearance.

Jewelry:
The types and numbers of jewelry, such as a long necklace, short necklace, choker, bracelets and others, that adorn the body are described and listed in the literature. The artist has complete freedom, limited only by period, region and style, to design and imagine the jewelry provided it is in keeping with the general concepts of a deity having peaceful appearance.

Utpala Flowers:
The utpala flower, sometimes called a nilotpala, is a blue night lotus. Most of the early literature describes Tara as holding a single flower with the stem held in the left hand and the flower blossoming over the left shoulder. A large number of early paintings and sculpture depict Tara holding two utpala flowers. It is possible that the popularity of the two flowers is the choice of the artist to balance the appearance of the sculpture or to create a more pleasing composition of Tara in painting. This tradition has continued up to the present day. With painted examples from the past few hundred years many artists have chosen to represent the flowers as pink, white, yellow, or some other colour. This choice is not textually or iconographically accurate.

Halo & Torana:
Early literature very clearly describes a white moon disc as the backrest or back support for Tara. This however is not commonly followed in painting. There are no textual instructions for painting any type of halo or nimbus. The halo or nimbus around the head, the body halo, or even a single large halo containing the entire body of Tara, are all the choice of the artist. Be it a simple singular colour, multi-coloured, rainbow sphere, or decorative with wish-fulfilling jewels, all of those choices are based on period, region and painting style of the artist.

Jeff Watt 12-2021

(The images below are only a selection of examples from the links above).