701 - Thangka of the Green Tara on a Lotus Throne, Syamatara, Buddhist Scroll Painting from the Himalayas

Thangka of the Green Tara on a Lotus Throne, Syamatara, Buddhist Scroll Painting from the Himalayas Tempera on linen. Buddhist scroll painting with the Green Tara as the central figure, seated in lalitasana on a lotus throne, the right leg lowered onto a small lotus blossom, the left drawn up. The right hand in varada mudra above the knee, the left before the breast holding the stem of a lotus blossom which opens above the shoulder. The deity wears jewelled pendants, bracelets and the five-leaved bodhisattva crown before a round nimbus and mandorla. The ground laid in with large pink and yellow lotus blossoms and green foliage, in the upper field two small seated figures. Condition commensurate with age, rubbed, with creases, the edges heavily thinned, the upper left corner with remains of adhesive tape, 73x54.5 cm (HxW). Tara is regarded as the female counterpart of the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara; according to tradition she arose from a tear he shed, from whose lake a lotus rose. She is venerated above all in Nepal, Tibet and Mongolia. The green form is considered the original one and is counted as the consort of the Buddha Amoghasiddhi, while the white Tara stands for purity; together the two embody unceasing compassion by day and by night. Under Tibetan influence the number of transmitted forms grew to one hundred and eight, and in temple art twenty-one coloured manifestations frequently appear. A collector's piece for lovers of Tibetan painting.