Statue of Tara
Material	Gilded Bronze
Size	143cm high (4'8")
Created	7th–8th century AD
Present location	British Museum,London
Identification	1830,0612.4

TheStatue of Tara is agilt-bronze sculpture ofTara that dates from the 7th–8th century AD inSri Lanka. Some argue it was looted from thelast King of Kandy when the British annexedKandy in the early nineteenth century. It was given to theBritish Museum in 1830 by the formerBritish Governor of Ceylon (as Sri Lanka was then known),Robert Brownrigg.^[1]

Buddhism has had a continuous history on the island of Sri Lanka ever since the third century BC. The figure dates to the period ofAnuradhapura Kingdom founded in 377 BC byKing Pandukabhaya.Buddhism played a strong role in the Anuradhapura period, influencing its culture, laws, and methods of governance. Tara shows evidence of the cultural interaction of Buddhism with Hinduism. Tara had been a Hindu mother goddess but was redesigned for a new role within Buddhism.^[2] Sri Lanka today is predominantlyTheravada Buddhist country.^[3]

At one time this statue was thought to be a model of the guardian deityPattini, but it is now agreed that this statue is of Tara.^[4] This identification is clear evidence for the presence in the medieval period ofMahayana Buddhism as well as the Theravada form of the faith which allows Buddhists to worship beings other than Buddha. TheAbhayagiri vihāra of the Anuradhapura Kingdom being the most notable example.

The statue suggests that Tara may have been worshiped as a deity and not just as the consort of a male god.^[5] Typically the sculpture would have been placed in a temple alongside a statue of her male companion, the bodhisattva,Avalokiteshevara.^[6]Bodhisattvas are beings who have reached enlightenment but have turned back from it, out of compassion so that they can still help mankind escape from the cycle of death, rebirth and suffering.^[6]

The sculpture represents a standing figure of a femaledeity solid cast in bronze using thelost wax process. The statue is about three quarter life size and it has been gilded to create the luxurious, golden appearance. The goddess's hour-glass upper body is bare with a lower garment tied to the hips with an almost ankle length hemline. Tara's right hand is shown in the gesture of giving while her left hand is thought to have held alotus flower, now lost. The figure wears a high crown dominated by a medallion. The hole in the crown is supposed to have held a large precious stone.^[4] The statue is the only known Anuradhapura example of this size that now survives. The statue would have been valuable not just from its appearance but also because of its manufacture. The statue was not hollow but made from an expensive metal using a technologically advanced technique of lost wax casting.^[2]

It has been alleged that this rare sculpture was stolen by the then British Governor, Sir Robert Brownrigg, from thelast King of Kandy when the British annexedKandy.^[1] He later donated it to the British Museum in the 1830s. This account differs from that put forward by the British Museum who believe that the statue was simply found in the early 1800s somewhere betweenTrincomalee andBatticaloa on the eastern coast of Sri Lanka and subsequently acquired by Sir Robert Brownrigg.^[7] Kandy came under British rule in March 1815 under the terms of theKandyan Convention which was organised by Brownrigg.^[8]

When theBritish Museum acquired the statue, in the 1830s, they were concerned that the large exposed breasts, narrow waist and curvaceous hips would be seen as too erotic for the public so it was kept out of sight for thirty years.^[2] The statue was only available for scholars to study even though it was never in doubt that the purpose of this statue had always been religious rather than to arouse. This scholarly study is strangely reminiscent of the statue's ancient status in Sri Lanka. It is thought that the statue would have only been seen in Sri Lanka by chosen priests and monks and it would not have been seen by the general population of Buddhists.^[2]

There is a replica of this statue in theNational Museum of Colombo inSri Lanka.^[5]

Wikimedia Commons has media related toStatue of Tara, British Museum.

• W. Zwalf (ed.),Buddhism: art and faith (London, The British Museum Press, 1985)
• R.E. Fisher,Buddhist art and architecture (London, Thames & Hudson, 1993)
• R. Thapar,The Penguin History of Early India from the Origins to AD 1300 (London, 2002)
• K.M. De Silva,A History of Sri Lanka (Berkeley, 1981)
• R. Coningham et al., "The State of Theocracy: Defining an Early Medieval Hinterland in Sri Lanka",Antiquity, 81 (2007), 699–719

• 7th-century sculptures
• 8th-century sculptures
• Asian sculptures in the British Museum
• Buddhist sculpture
• Sri Lankan art
• Bronze sculptures in London
• Sri Lanka–United Kingdom relations

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Commons category link is on Wikidata