Seated Tara

Detail from a Bodhisattva statue
West of inner entrance
Monastery 1, Ratnagiri

This lovely Tara comes from the headless statue of Avalokiteshvara on the previous page. The seated Tara extends her right hand in varada mudra, while a lotus flower curls above her left shoulder. The features of the small statue seem typically Southeast Asian; as a center of learning, Ratnagiri was visited by Buddhist travelers from that region, and there were political and trading ties between Orissa and SE Asia at this time.