Detail of the Seated Tara in the Brooklyn Museum, May 2011

Title: Seated Tara

Date: 9th century

Dynasty: Pala Dynasty

Period: Pala Period

Geography: Place made: Bihar, India

Medium: Black schist

Classification: Sculpture

Dimensions: 30 1/4 x 15 3/4 x 7 3/4 in., 181 lb. (76.8 x 40 x 19.7 cm, 82.1kg) mount (overall): 30 × 17 1/2 × 8 in. (76.2 × 44.5 × 20.3 cm)

Credit Line: Purchased with funds given by Dr. Bertram H. Schaffner

Accession Number: 1995.136


Object Label: This image of Green Tara was made roughly one hundred years after the standing Tara shown nearby. Her seated posture, with one leg dangling from her throne to suggest ease and accessibility, would become the norm for images of Green Tara in India and the Himalayas. The inscription above her head, in a form of Sanskrit, asks the viewer to remember the dharma, or Buddhist teachings, as they are embodied in the goddess.

Text from: www.brooklynmuseum.org/objects/154419