Tara (Devi)

This article is about the Hindu goddess. For the Buddhist as black, Tara is described as blue. Both wear minimal
bodhisattva, see Tara (Buddhism).
clothing, however Tara wears a tiger-skin skirt, while Kali
wears only a girdle of severed human arms. Both wear
In Hinduism, the goddess Tara (Sanskrit: Tr, a garland of severed human heads. Both have a lolling
tongue, and blood oozes from their mouths. Their apDevanagari: , Telugu:
, Tamil:
, Bengali:
) meaning One who protects, is the second of the pearances are so strikingly similar that it is easy to mistake one for the other. Indeed, they are often said to
Dasa (ten) Mahavidyas or Great Wisdom [goddesses]",
and is a form of Shakti (primeval energy in female form). be manifestations of each other; for example, in their
Tantric manifestations of Durga or Mahadevi, or Parvati. thousand-name hymns they share many epithets as well as
The word 'Tara', and also 'Tarini' (another popular name having each others names. Tara, for example, is called
of the goddess) have been derived from the Sanskrit root Kalika, Ugra-kali, Mahakali, and Bhadra-kali. Tara is
syllable 'tAr', signifying protection. In many other con- said to be more approachable to the devotee (Bhakta)
temporary Indian languages, the word 'tara' also means or Tantrika because of her maternal instincts; however a
star. As the star is seen as a beautiful but perpetually large population of Bengali Hindus approach Kali herself
self-combusting thing, so Tara is perceived at core as the as Ma or mother.
absolute, unquenchable hunger that propels all life.

Like Kali, furthermore, Tara in her Hindu context enjoys blood. In her hymn of a hundred names from the
Mundamala-tantra, she is called She Who Likes Blood,
She Who Is Smeared with Blood and She Who Enjoys Blood Sacrice. The Tara-tantra describes Taras
delight in both animal and human blood but says that the
latter is more pleasing to her. The blood of devotees is
to be taken from specied parts of the body, such as the
forehead, hands, breasts, head, or area between the eyebrows; some of these areas may correspond to the dierent chakras, spiritual centers within the body.

Origin

The oral tradition gives an origin to the goddess Tara.

The legend begins with the churning of the ocean between the Devas and Asuras. Lord Shiva drank the poison (Halahala) that was created from the churning of the
ocean (in the process turning his throat blue and earning
him the epithet Nilakantha), thus saving the world from
destruction, but fell unconscious under its powerful effect. Mahadevi Durga appeared as Maa Tara and took
Shiva on her lap. She suckled him, the milk from her
breasts counteracting the poison, and he recovered. This
story is reminiscent of the one in which Shiva stops the
rampaging Kali by becoming an infant. Seeing the child,
Kalis maternal instinct comes to the fore and when she
was feeding him her breast milk Shiva sucked her rage
out while sucking the milk. In both cases, Shiva assumes
the position of an infant vis--vis the Goddess. Mainly
Tara is a form of Durga . As Per Shakti Mahabhagwat,
She is the one who created 1st Seed from which the entire universe took birth in the form of Lord Narayana.
Since he was Non manifested divinity so next Mahavidya
expanded him so that manifested divinity Lord Vishnu
took birth from him.[1]

Tara can be distinguished visually from Kali primarily

via her implements. Four armed, she carries a sacricial
sword, a severed head or skull cup, a lotus and scissors.
The scissor symbolizes Taras ability to cut through unwanted habits thus freeing the individual for spiritual
transcendence. Kali never holds a lotus or a pair of scissors.

3 Tarapith temple

Main article: Tarapith

The murti at the Tara Ma mandir in the village of
Tarapith, a highly important Tantric site for Bengali
Shaktas (and highly contested as to whether or not it is
truly a Shakti Pitha; scholarly evidence points towards
yes), is mostly covered by Garlands of owers. There
are two Tara images in the sanctum. The stone image of
2 Iconography
Tara depicted as a mother suckling Shiva the primordial image (seen in the inset of the erce form of the
Kali and Tara are similar in appearance. They both are image of Tara) is camouaged by a three feet metal imdescribed as standing upon a supine Shiva in an inert age, that the devotee normally sees. It represents Tara in
or corpse-like form. However, while Kali is described her ery form with four arms, wearing a garland of skulls
1

REFERENCES

4 Tara in Buddhism
Tara (Sanskrit: in Buddhism, is a female
Bodhisattva in Mahayana Buddhism who appears as a female Buddha in Vajrayana Buddhism. She is known as
the mother of liberation, and represents the virtues of
success in work and achievements.
Some researchers believe Paranasabari is another name
for Hindu Goddess Tara,[2][3]

5 See also
Tarapith
Shaktism
Tara in Buddhism
Maa Taratarini Temple
Maa Tarini
Maa Ugra Tara
Tara lithograph.

6 References
[1] Shakti MahaBhagwat Purana | Edition: 1| Sanskrit - Hindi
Translation| GeetaPress Gorakhpur
[2] Reections on the Tantras. Sudhakar Chattopadhyaya. p.
76.

and a protruding tongue. Crowned with a silver crown

and with owing hair, the outer image wrapped in a sari
and decked in marigold garlands with a silver umbrella
over its head. The forehead of the metal image is adorned
with red Sindur (vermilion). Most devotees will not have
a chance to see the actual stone image, as there are only
15 or so minutes of Darshan or viewing of the stone at
4:30AM when the temple opens and only the rst lucky
few will be admitted into the adytum (the Garbhagriha)
to see the stone.
Unlike most Indian villages and towns, the smashan or
cremation ground is not situated on the periphery of the
village. As cremation grounds are seen to be polluting,
most Indian smashans are located far from the center of
town. Both the Tarapith mandir and smashan are very
close (within 100 yards or so) to the center of the town.
It is said that Tara Mas footprints are preserved in the
smashan; this is a common theme in Hinduism, where
deities or their especially holy followers are said to leave
their footprints in rocks. Many Sadhus and Tantrikas live
in the smashan, some with permanent huts as residences.
The smashan is lled with dogs, traditionally polluting animals who were said to share food with the Vamamarga
saint Bamakhepa, whose samdhi or tomb is located next
door to the main Tarapith temple.

[3] The social function of art by Radhakamal Mukerjee.

Philosophical Library. 1954. p. 151.

Banerjee, Sumanta (2002). Logic in a Popular

Form: Essays on Popular Religion in Bengal. Seagull
Books. ISBN 81-7046-162-6.
Kinsley, David R. (1988). Hindu Goddesses:Visions
of the Divine Feminine in the Hindu Religious Tradition. University of California Press. ISBN 0-52006339-2.
Kinsley, David R. (1997). Tantric Visions of the Divine Feminine: The Ten Mahvidys. New Delhi:
Motilal Banarsidass. ISBN 978-0-520-20499-7.
MacDaniel, June (2004). 1-4237-5659-2 Oering
Flowers, Feeding Skulls: Popular Goddess Worship
in West Bengal Check |url= value (help). Oxford
University Press. ISBN 0-19-516790-2.
MacDaniel, June (1989). The Madness of the Saints:
Ecstatic Religion in Bengal. University of Chicago
Press. ISBN 0-226-55723-5.
Shankaranarayanan, Sri (1972). The Ten Great Cosmic Powers. Dipti Publications. ISBN 81-8520838-7.

3
Svoboda, Robert E. Aghora: at the Left Hand of
God. ISBN 0-914732-21-8.
Svoboda, Robert E. Aghora II: Kundalini. ISBN 0914732-31-5.
Svoboda, Robert E. Aghora III: The Law of Karma.
ISBN 0-914732-37-4.
A Short Biography of Vamaksepa

External links
Tara Mantra Evam Tantra Sadhana

8 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

8.1

Text

Tara (Devi) Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tara_(Devi)?oldid=741228313 Contributors: Nealmcb, Haukurth, Morwen, Goethean,

BrianStanley, Nat Krause, Luis Dantas, LordSimonofShropshire, Rosarino, Rich Farmbrough, Gpowers, Cromwellt, Dangerous-Boy,
BD2412,
, Pranathi, TheRingess, Bhadani, DaGizza, Gaius Cornelius, Seemagoel, Open2universe, SmackBot, KnowledgeOfSelf,
Bazonka, JonHarder, Breno, Green Giant, Hu12, LadyofShalott, Bharatveer, Sedusa66, Satori Son, JAnDbot, Leolaursen, Bongwarrior,
T@nn, JamesBWatson, Kateshortforbob, CommonsDelinker, R powers, Skumarlabot, Ian.thomson, Redtigerxyz, Alifshinobi, IPSOS, Snehilsharma, Billinghurst, Coee, Oldag07, Icarusgeek, Podzemnik, Niceguyedc, Boneyard90, DragonBot, SoxBot III, Flutterman, Roxy the
dog, Anonym9999, Addbot, Non-dropframe, CarsracBot, Jonoikobangali, Numbo3-bot, Yobot, AnomieBOT, ArthurBot, Xqbot, SassoBot,
AdalCobos, FrescoBot, Anizotropia, I dream of horses, Jethwarp, Amiyanshu, Onel5969, Income4all, Rcsprinter123, Nayansatya, Tatufan, ClueBot NG, Frietjes, Helpful Pixie Bot, BG19bot, PhnomPencil, JaQueeta, CitationCleanerBot, MBH110, Cyberbot II, Saileshpat,
Noble-facts, LadyJaQueeta, Prince.Google, Lk56835, Dhruvjeet Roy, Filedelinkerbot, TDickinson, Srednuas Lenoroc, CAPTAIN RAJU,
Addmakes, Kdnjha, Marvellous Spider-Man, Bender the Bot, SWAMY SARANAANANDA and Anonymous: 52

8.2

Images

File:Commons-logo.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg License: CC-BY-SA-3.0 Contributors: ? Original artist: ?

File:Goddess_Kali_By_Piyal_Kundu1.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f1/Goddess_Kali_By_Piyal_
Kundu1.jpg License: CC BY-SA 3.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: Piyal Kundu
File:Om.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8e/Om.svg License: Public domain Contributors: Own work,
but using one of characters in the Wingdings font Original artist: Kashmiri
File:Tara_lithograph.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3f/Tara_lithograph.jpg License: Public domain
Contributors: http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/search_the_collection_database/search_object_details.aspx?objectid=3276416&
partid=1&searchText=kali&fromADBC=ad&toADBC=ad&numpages=10&images=on&orig=%2fresearch%2fsearch_the_collection_
database.aspx&currentPage=3 Original artist: Chore Bagan Art Studio
File:Wikibooks-logo.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/Wikibooks-logo.svg License: CC BY-SA 3.0
Contributors: Own work Original artist: User:Bastique, User:Ramac et al.
File:Wikinews-logo.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/24/Wikinews-logo.svg License: CC BY-SA 3.0
Contributors: This is a cropped version of Image:Wikinews-logo-en.png. Original artist: Vectorized by Simon 01:05, 2 August 2006 (UTC)
Updated by Time3000 17 April 2007 to use ocial Wikinews colours and appear correctly on dark backgrounds. Originally uploaded by
Simon.
File:Wikiquote-logo.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/Wikiquote-logo.svg License: Public domain
Contributors: Own work Original artist: Rei-artur
File:Wikisource-logo.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg License: CC BY-SA 3.0
Contributors: Rei-artur Original artist: Nicholas Moreau
File:Wikiversity-logo-Snorky.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1b/Wikiversity-logo-en.svg License:
CC BY-SA 3.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: Snorky
File:Wiktionary-logo-v2.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/06/Wiktionary-logo-v2.svg License: CC BYSA 4.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: Dan Polansky based on work currently attributed to Wikimedia Foundation but originally
created by Smurrayinchester

8.3

Content license

Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0