Tara Devi in Sri Lanka

Tara Devi (Sinhala: ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ තාරා දේවිය) is considered the most beloved goddess of the Mahayana Buddhist pantheon (Jayawardene, 2016). Although presently Sri Lanka is a Theravada Buddhist country, there is evidence to prove that the Mahayana culture was spreading in the country during the first millennium, especially from 3 century A.D. to 9th century A.D. Statues depicting the major Mahayana icons such as Avalokiteswara, Vajrapani, Manjusri, and Tara have been discovered from a number of localities in Sri Lanka.

Tara

Tara is a figure in Buddhism and she appears as a female Bodhisattva in Mahayana Buddhism, and as a female Buddha in Vajrayana Buddhism. She emerged in the history of India about the 6th century A.D. (Jayawardene, 2016). In early representations, she appeared alongside with Bodhisattva Avalokiteswara but by the mid of the 7th century, she has become the very embodiment of the principle of Buddhahood and is regarded as without equal as a liberator, protector, and saviour in both the Mahayana and Vajrayana teachings (Jayawardene, 2016). She became a part of the cultures of several Asian countries including Tibet, Nepal, Mongolia, India and Sri Lanka (Gunawardana, 2019).

Tara in Sri Lanka

Tara started to appear in the society of Sri Lanka around the seventh or eighth century A.D. and was worshipped until the fifteenth century A.D. (Jayawardene, 2016). Evidence for Tara worship in Sri Lanka is found in the Mihintale Slab Inscriptions of Mahinda IV (956-972 A.D.) where she is referred to as goddess Mininal (Gunawardana, 2019; Jayawardene, 2016; Wickremasinghe, 1912). 

Tara is also called Biso Bandara by Sinhalese Buddhists (Gunawardana, 2019). The 14th century Tisara Sandeshaya treats her as Tārā Bisō (Gunawardana, 2019).

 

Tara statues in Sri Lanka

The presence of Tara statues in Sri Lanka was acknowledged late (Jayawardene, 2016). Based on a comparative study, P.E.P. Deraniyagala identified three bronze images of Tara in 1951 that were mistakenly known as images of Goddess Pattini (Jayawardene, 2016). Thereafter, several scholars such as V. Schroeder, D.K. Dohanian, N. Mudiyanse, A.D.T.E. Perera, N. Wijesekara, L. Prematileke, O. Bopearachchi published articles regarding Tara heritage in the country (Dohanian, 1983; Gunawardana, 2019; Jayawardene, 2016).

 

The Tara Devi in the British Museum is considered the best-known Tara statue produced in Sri Lanka (Jayawardene, 2016). The largest figure of Tara in the country is found in Buduruwagala (Gunawardana, 2019).

This is an incomplete list prepared by "Lanka Pradeepa".

 

No.	Location	Remarks	References
1	Tara (standing), Buduruwagala Viharaya (Monaragala District)	The largest figure of Tara. Nearly 40 ft. in height. 6-9th centuries A.D.	Gunawardana, 2019
2	Tara (seated), British Museum (Sri Lanka)	Solid cast gilt-bronze of about 15 cm in height. 7-8th centuries A.D. Removed from Sri Lanka by Hugh Nevill in 1886.	The British Museum (1898,0702.142)
3	Tara Statue (standing), British Museum (East coast of Sri Lanka)	A solid cast in bronze and gilded. 1.43 m in height. c. 8th century A.D. Removed from Sri Lanka by Sir Robert Brownrigg in 1820.	The British Museum (1830,0612.4)
4	Nila Tara (standing), Vijayarama Monastery (Anuradhapura District)	The latter part of the 9th century A.D.	Gunawardana, 2019
5	Tara (standing), British Museum (Sri Lanka)	A bronze figure of a female deity, probably Tara. 4.7 cm in height. 10th century A.D. Removed from Sri Lanka by Hugh Nevill in 1886.	The British Museum (1898,0702.139)
6	Tara (standing), British Museum (Sri Lanka)	A bronze four-armed female figure, possibly Tara. 16.9 cm in height. 10th century A.D. Removed from Sri Lanka by Hugh Nevill in 1886.	The British Museum (1898,0702.140)
7	Astamahabhaya Tara, British Museum (Sri Lanka)	Bronze. 7.6 cm in height & 2 inches in width. 10th century A.D.	The British Museum (1898,0702.132)
8	Kurunegala Tara (seated), Colombo National Museum (Kurunegala District)	Solid cast and silver alloyed. 20 cm in height. 10th century A.D.	Gunawardana, 2019
9	Mala Tara (seated), Colombo National Museum (Mannar District)	Discovered in 1957 near the Mannar lighthouse. 5.4 cm in height. 10th century A.D.	Gunawardana, 2019
10	Tara (seated), Manabharana Viharaya (Monaragala District)	Discovered in 2012. The height of the statue is 11 cm	Gunawardana, 2019
11	(1) Tara (standing), Tiriyaya (Trincomalee District)	Discovered in 1983	Gunawardana, 2019
12	(2) Tara (standing), Tiriyaya (Trincomalee District)	Discovered in 1983	Gunawardana, 2019
13	Tara (standing), Abhayagiriya Museum (Anuradhapura District)	Discovered from a Padanghara to the northeaster side of Ruwanweliseya. 14.5 cm in height	Gunawardana, 2019
14	Tara (seated), Abhayagiriya Museum (Anuradhapura District)	Discovered from the Digapashana area at Abhayagiriya. 5 cm in height	Gunawardana, 2019
15	Thribanga Tara (standing), Abhayagiriya Museum (Anuradhapura District)	18.6 cm in height	Gunawardana, 2019
16	Tara (head), Yatala Museum (Hambantota District)	The hair is in the ascetic style of Jatāmakūta.	Gunawardana, 2019
17	Tara (head), Yatala Museum (Hambantota District)	The head cannot be clearly identified.	Gunawardana, 2019
18	Tara, Pasgama Devalaya (Kandy District)	15th Century	Jayawardene, 2016
19	Tara, Vegiriya Devalaya (Kandy District)	16th century	Jayawardene, 2016

Attribution

1) Statue of Tara, British Museum 4, Statue of Tara, British Museum 2, & Statue of Tara, British Museum 3 by Mike Peel are licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0

References

1) Dohanian, D.K., 1983. Sinhalese Sculptures in the Pallava Style. Archives of Asian Art, 36, pp.6-21.

2) Gunawardana, N., 2019. Identify the statues of Goddess Tārā in Sri Lanka and Evaluate the Importance with Trade. International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, 9(9), pp.404-410.

3) Jayawardene, S., 2016. Sri Lanka's Tārā Devī. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka, 61(2), pp.1-30.

4) Wickremasinghe, D.M.D.Z., 1912. Epigraphia Zeylanica: Being lithic and other inscription of Ceylon (Vol. I). London. Archaeological Survey of Ceylon. p.103.

This page was last updated on 10 October 2022