21 Taras

There is a famous prayer for 21 Taras, and this painting shows all those Taras with their different aspects. At the centre Green Tara, the female bodhisattva of compassion keeps her right hand in the gesture of giving, and her right foot on a lotus stepping down to the world to save sentient beings from various dangers and fears. At the same time her left foot is in the gesture of meditation, and left hand in the gesture of Three Jewels holding three blue lotuses (utpala), one in bud, one half-open and one blooming.