Green Tara Tibetan Scroll Painting

Green Tara is a forest deity that is the most popular embodiment of the bodhisattva Tara.

Green Tara is the most famous female Buddha in the Tibetan Buddhist pantheon. She is also known as ‘Mother of all Buddhas’.

Green Tara’s special lotus is the blue lotus or ‘night lotus’ which she bears in both hands. The word utpala means to ‘burst open’.

Her left-hand holds a stem with an open blooming flower and an unopened bud. The bent lower part of the stem represents the root.

The open blossom represents the present and also the present Buddha; the bud represents the future and also Buddhas yet to be born. The future here also refers to a safe journeys end and a future well being.

Her right-hand wisdom hand is in the gesture of giving refuge. The third finger touches the thumb to create a circle representing the union of wisdom and compassion, and the three extended fingers symbolize the Three Jewels of Buddhism

• The Buddha Statue
• The Body of teachings
• The Principles of the Universe

The same hand holds the stem of a blue lotus representing her willingness to assist. The closed blossom in her right hand represents the past and also the Buddhas of the past.