Shrine Relief Fragment Depicting Ashtamahabhaya Tara, the Buddhist Savioress

Shrine Relief Fragment Depicting Ashtamahabhaya Tara, the Buddhist Savioress

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Tara’s title, Ashtamahabhaya, refers to the eight great perils from which she offers sanctuary: lions, snakes, thieves, enslavement, yakshas, shipwreck, fire, and rampaging elephants (the last two are shown at the lower right). Merchants, including mariners, who regularly confronted such dangers, particularly venerated this goddess. The Ashtamahabhaya iconography first appears in conjunction with Avalokiteshvara imagery in rock-cut sanctuaries in western India. The architectural style of the shrine setting is similar to extant temples in Himachal Pradesh, allowing this image to be dated to the tenth or eleventh century.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Shrine Relief Fragment Depicting Ashtamahabhaya Tara, the Buddhist SavioressShrine Relief Fragment Depicting Ashtamahabhaya Tara, the Buddhist SavioressShrine Relief Fragment Depicting Ashtamahabhaya Tara, the Buddhist SavioressShrine Relief Fragment Depicting Ashtamahabhaya Tara, the Buddhist SavioressShrine Relief Fragment Depicting Ashtamahabhaya Tara, the Buddhist Savioress

The Met's collection of Asian art—more than 35,000 objects, ranging in date from the third millennium B.C. to the twenty-first century—is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world. Each of the many civilizations of Asia is represented by outstanding works, providing an unrivaled experience of the artistic traditions of nearly half the world.