- Title
- The Buddhist Goddesses Tara and Chunda
- Date Made
- 9th century
- Medium
- Sandstone with traces of red devotional paint
- Dimensions
- 35 x 26 x 5 in. (88.9 x 66.04 x 12.7 cm)
- Accession Number
- M.90.164
- Collecting Area
- South and Southeast Asian Art
- Curatorial Notes
These two Buddhist goddesses personify concepts crucial to the achievement of Enlightenment. Tara, who embodies compassion, stands on the right. She is crowned and has two arms. Her right hand is held in the gesture of ‘gift-giving’ (varada mudra) and her left hand grasps the long stem of a lotus bud. Kneeling beneath Tara is a skeletal figure symbolizing the needy beings who benefit from her compassionate aid. Chunda, a four-armed goddess who represents wisdom, stands on the left. She has the piled hair of an ascetic. Her lower right hand is held in the gesture of ‘gift-giving’ and her upper right hand is now-missing. Her upper left hand holds a sacred manuscript and a lotus stem. Her lower left hand carries a wine cup. The divine pair is flanked by female attendants bearing honorific fly whisks made from the white tail-hairs of a yak (cauri or chowri) and knelling devotees with their hands held in the gesture of adoration (anjali mudra). An effaced inscription is on the lower left front of the base.
Although Hindu images predominated in central and northern India after the 6th century, sculptures such as this demonstrate the continued vitality of Buddhist practice in the region.
Another relief from this series is in the State Museum, Lucknow.
