Goddess Tara

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This remarkable image has all the trappings of the goddess Kali but is named as the mahavidya Tara, a personification of the transcendent wisdom who guides devotees to salvation (moksha), protecting them on their journey. She is also worshipped as the source of divine energy including the power of the sun. Iconographically she is distinguished from Kali was her dark blue complexion and a swelling stomach indicating her pregnant state. In other respects, they share much, both being four-armed and wielding two butchering blades, wearing a garland of severed human heads and striding on the prostrate body of Shiva. However, unlike Kali she displays a white lotus and a skull cap (kapala) in her other hands. While Kali favors charnel grounds, Tara is depicted here in lushly forested mountain terrain. A garland of skulls and rising cobra atop her disheveled hair, together with a silver crescent month in her radiant nimbus, underscore her close allegiance to Shiva.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

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.

Metropolitan Museum of Art