Tara (Devi)
Encyclopedia
In Hinduism
, the goddess Tara (Sanskrit
: Tārā, Devanagari
: तारा) meaning "star" is the second of the Dasa (ten) Mahavidyas or "Great Wisdom [goddesses]", Tantric
manifestations of Mahadevi
, Kali
, or Parvati
. As the star is seen as a beautiful but perpetually self-combusting thing, so Tara is perceived at core as the absolute, unquenchable hunger that propels all life.
between the Deva
s and Asura
s. 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. Tara Ma appeared 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, Kali's maternal instinct comes to the fore, and she becomes quiet and nurses the infant Shiva. In both cases, Shiva assumes the position of an infant vis-à-vis the Goddess.
and Tara are striking and unmistakable. They both are described as standing upon a supine Shiva
in inert or corpse like form. However, while Kali is described as black, Tara is described as blue. Both wear minimal clothing, however Tara wears a tiger skin skirt, while Kali wears only a girdle of severed human arms. Both wear a necklace of severed human heads and the previously mentioned girdle of arms. Both have a lolling tongue, and blood oozes from their mouths. Their appearances are so strikingly similar that it is easy to mistake one for the other. Indeed, they are often said to be manifestations of each other; for example, in their thousand-name hymns they share many epithets as well as having each others names. Tara, for example, is called Kalika, Ugra-kali, Mahakali, and Bhadra-kali. Tara is said to be more approachable to the devotee (Bhakta) or Tantrika
because of her maternal instincts; however a large population of Bengali
Hindu
s approach Kali herself as "Ma" or "mother".
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 Sacrifice". The Tara-tantra describes Tara's 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 specified parts of the body, such as the forehead, hands, breasts, head, or area between the eyebrows; some of these areas may correspond to the different chakras, spiritual centers within the body.
Tara can be distinguished visually from Kali primarily via her implements. Four armed, she carries a sacrificial sword
, a severed head or skull cup, a lotus
and scissors. Kali never holds a lotus or a pair of scissors.
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 no), is mostly covered by Garlands of flowers. There are two Tara images in the sanctum. The stone image of Tara depicted as a mother suckling Shiva – the "primordial image" (seen in the inset of the fierce form of the image of Tara) is camouflaged by a three feet metal image, that the devotee normally sees. It represents Tara in her fiery form with four arms, wearing a garland of skulls and a protruding tongue. Crowned with a silver crown and with flowing 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 first lucky few will be admitted into the sanctum sanctorum
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 Ma's 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 filled with dogs, traditionally polluting animals who were said to share food with the Vamamarga saint Bamakhepa
, whose samādhi or tomb is located next door to the main Tarapith temple.
Hinduism
Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...
, the goddess Tara (Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
: Tārā, Devanagari
Devanagari
Devanagari |deva]]" and "nāgarī" ), also called Nagari , is an abugida alphabet of India and Nepal...
: तारा) meaning "star" is the second of the Dasa (ten) Mahavidyas or "Great Wisdom [goddesses]", Tantric
Tantra
Tantra , anglicised tantricism or tantrism or tantram, is the name scholars give to an inter-religious spiritual movement that arose in medieval India, expressed in scriptures ....
manifestations of Mahadevi
Mahadevi
In Hinduism, Mahadevi or "Great Goddess" is a term used to denote the Goddess or Devi that is the sum of all other Devis - an all encompassing Female Deity as the consort or complement to an all encompassing Male Deity or the Ultimate Reality in Shaktism.She is often identified with a specific...
, Kali
Kali
' , also known as ' , is the Hindu goddess associated with power, shakti. The name Kali comes from kāla, which means black, time, death, lord of death, Shiva. Kali means "the black one". Since Shiva is called Kāla - the eternal time, Kālī, his consort, also means "Time" or "Death" . Hence, Kāli is...
, or Parvati
Parvati
Parvati is a Hindu goddess. Parvati is Shakti, the wife of Shiva and the gentle aspect of Mahadevi, the Great Goddess...
. As the star is seen as a beautiful but perpetually self-combusting thing, so Tara is perceived at core as the absolute, unquenchable hunger that propels all life.
Origin
The oral tradition gives an intriguing origin to the goddess Tara. The legend begins with the churning of the oceanSamudra manthan
In Hinduism, Samudra manthan or Ksheera Sagara Mathanam, Churning of the Ocean of Milk is one of the most famous episodes in the Puranas...
between the Deva
Deva (Hinduism)
' is the Sanskrit word for god or deity, its related feminine term is devi. In modern Hinduism, it can be loosely interpreted as any benevolent supernatural beings. The devs in Hinduism, also called Suras, are often juxtaposed to the Asuras, their half brothers. Devs are also the maintainers of...
s and Asura
Asura
-In Hinduism:In Hinduism, the Asuras constitute a group of power-seeking deities, sometimes considered sinful and materialistic. The Daityas and Danavas were combinedly known as Asuras. The Asura were opposed to the Devas. Both groups are children of Kasyapa...
s. Lord Shiva
Shiva
Shiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
drank the poison (Halahala
Halahala
Halāhala or Kalakootam is the name of a poison created from the sea when Devas and Asuras churned the sea in order to obtain Amrita, the nectar of immortality.Fourteen different ratnas were recovered in this exercise mostly retained by Gods after Demons tried to cheat...
) 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. Tara Ma appeared 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, Kali's maternal instinct comes to the fore, and she becomes quiet and nurses the infant Shiva. In both cases, Shiva assumes the position of an infant vis-à-vis the Goddess.
Iconography
The similarities in appearances between KaliKali
' , also known as ' , is the Hindu goddess associated with power, shakti. The name Kali comes from kāla, which means black, time, death, lord of death, Shiva. Kali means "the black one". Since Shiva is called Kāla - the eternal time, Kālī, his consort, also means "Time" or "Death" . Hence, Kāli is...
and Tara are striking and unmistakable. They both are described as standing upon a supine Shiva
Shiva
Shiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
in inert or corpse like form. However, while Kali is described as black, Tara is described as blue. Both wear minimal clothing, however Tara wears a tiger skin skirt, while Kali wears only a girdle of severed human arms. Both wear a necklace of severed human heads and the previously mentioned girdle of arms. Both have a lolling tongue, and blood oozes from their mouths. Their appearances are so strikingly similar that it is easy to mistake one for the other. Indeed, they are often said to be manifestations of each other; for example, in their thousand-name hymns they share many epithets as well as having each others names. Tara, for example, is called Kalika, Ugra-kali, Mahakali, and Bhadra-kali. Tara is said to be more approachable to the devotee (Bhakta) or Tantrika
Tantra
Tantra , anglicised tantricism or tantrism or tantram, is the name scholars give to an inter-religious spiritual movement that arose in medieval India, expressed in scriptures ....
because of her maternal instincts; however a large population of Bengali
Bengali people
The Bengali people are an ethnic community native to the historic region of Bengal in South Asia. They speak Bengali , which is an Indo-Aryan language of the eastern Indian subcontinent, evolved from the Magadhi Prakrit and Sanskrit languages. In their native language, they are referred to as বাঙালী...
Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
s approach Kali herself as "Ma" or "mother".
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 Sacrifice". The Tara-tantra describes Tara's 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 specified parts of the body, such as the forehead, hands, breasts, head, or area between the eyebrows; some of these areas may correspond to the different chakras, spiritual centers within the body.
Tara can be distinguished visually from Kali primarily via her implements. Four armed, she carries a sacrificial sword
Sword
A sword is a bladed weapon used primarily for cutting or thrusting. The precise definition of the term varies with the historical epoch or the geographical region under consideration...
, a severed head or skull cup, a lotus
Lotus (plant)
Lotus identifies various plant taxa:* Nelumbo, a genus of aquatic plants with showy flowers** Nelumbo nucifera, the Sacred or Indian lotus** Nelumbo lutea, the American or Yellow lotus...
and scissors. Kali never holds a lotus or a pair of scissors.
Tarapith temple
The murtiMurti
In Hinduism, a murti , or murthi, or vigraha or pratima typically refers to an image which expresses a Divine Spirit . Meaning literally "embodiment", a murti is a representation of a divinity, made usually of stone, wood, or metal, which serves as a means through which a divinity may be worshiped...
at the Tara Ma mandir in the village of Tarapith
Tarapith
Tarapith is a small temple town near Rampurhat in Birbhum district of the Indian state of West Bengal, known for its Tantric temple and its adjoining cremation grounds where Tantric rites are performed...
, 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 no), is mostly covered by Garlands of flowers. There are two Tara images in the sanctum. The stone image of Tara depicted as a mother suckling Shiva – the "primordial image" (seen in the inset of the fierce form of the image of Tara) is camouflaged by a three feet metal image, that the devotee normally sees. It represents Tara in her fiery form with four arms, wearing a garland of skulls and a protruding tongue. Crowned with a silver crown and with flowing hair, the outer image wrapped in a sari
Sari
A sari or sareeThe name of the garment in various regional languages include: , , , , , , , , , , , , , is a strip of unstitched cloth, worn by females, ranging from four to nine metres in length that is draped over the body in various styles. It is popular in India, Bangladesh, Nepal,...
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
Darshan
or Darshan is a Sanskrit term meaning "sight" , vision, apparition, or glimpse. It is most commonly used for "visions of the divine" in Hindu worship, e.g. of a deity , or a very holy person or artifact...
or viewing of the stone at 4:30AM when the temple opens and only the first lucky few will be admitted into the sanctum sanctorum
Sanctum sanctorum
The Latin phrase sanctum sanctorum is a Latin translation of the biblical term: "Holy of Holies" which generally refers in Latin texts to the Holiest place of the Tabernacle of Ancient Israel and later the Temples in Jerusalem, but also has some derivative use in application to imitations of the...
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 Ma's 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 filled with dogs, traditionally polluting animals who were said to share food with the Vamamarga saint Bamakhepa
Bamakhepa
Bamakhepa popularly known as the "mad saint" was a Hindu saint, held in great reverence in Tarapith and whose shrine is also located in the vicinity of the Tara temple. Bama-khepa, literally means the mad follower of "left handed" path – the Tantric way of worship...
, whose samādhi or tomb is located next door to the main Tarapith temple.
Mahananda Mission
Tara also is the focus of puja and prayer for the Mahananda Mission at Her temple in Kankhal (Haridwar) and at the Mission's headquarters in Kolkata. She is worshipped as Parama Vaishnavi Tara Mata. Swami Mahananda Giri Maharaj (Mahasamadhi 1928) began the worship of Tara Mata according to Vaishnavachar. He spent 24 years in Sadhana at Kankhal, followed by observing Mauna Brata for 12 years. After this, he was blessed with the divine vision of Tara Mata, and traveled throughout India preaching the holy name of Tara Mata. He condemned animal sacrifice, and advocated the offering of bilwapatra, flowers, fruits and Ganges water. According to Swami Mahananda, true sacrifice is sacrifice of one’s own evil desires.See also
- TarapithTarapithTarapith is a small temple town near Rampurhat in Birbhum district of the Indian state of West Bengal, known for its Tantric temple and its adjoining cremation grounds where Tantric rites are performed...
- ShaktismShaktismShaktism is a denomination of Hinduism that focuses worship upon Shakti or Devi – the Hindu Divine Mother – as the absolute, ultimate Godhead...
- Tara in BuddhismTara (Buddhism)Tara or Ārya Tārā, also known as Jetsun Dolma in Tibetan 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...
- Maa Taratarini Temple
- Maa TariniMaa TariniMaa Tarini is one of the embodiments of Shakti and is one of the chief presiding Goddesses in Oriya culture. Her chief shrine is in Ghatagaon, Keonjhar District, Orissa.- Conceptualisation of Maa Tarini :...
- Maa Ugra TaraMaa Ugra TaraThe goddess Ugratara is the tutelary deity of Eastern Ganga dynasty Gajapati kings. Her ancient temple lies 65 kilometers from Bhubaneswar. The icon of Mother Tara is Chaturbhuja, holding potent weapons in her hands. She is very popular as Ugratara due to her fierce aspect, but benevolent to the...