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 savi…
