The 21 Taras Thangka
The beautiful 21 Taras Thangka, which took famous European artist Peter Iseli four years to paint at our sister centre in France, was kindly commissioned especially for Tara Institute by Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche.
Who is Tara?
Tara is the feminine aspect of the Buddha of compassion, "Mother of all the Buddha's".
Tara protects the welfare of all being and those who are devoted to her are especially fortunate.
What is a Tara Thangka?
This Thangka is a representation of the Buddhist deity, Tara.
Tara who reveals herself in different forms and qualities of the enlightened mind, helping us to overcome all fears and difficulties on the way. She does this by having 21 emanations which all have a specific colour and accomplishes a specific function- the 21 Tara's.
Taller than a 4-storey building
The thangka’s dimensions are 14 metres high by 9 metres wide. It is the largest thangka owned by an FPMT centre, and one of the largest in the world.
Expert staging technicians are engineering the gigantic display and brocade surrounds are currently being sewn. A venue that can display the extraordinary thangka in full is being sought.
Seeing the Thangka
The thangka, a Tibetan Buddhist painting, depicts the many aspects of the female Buddha Tara who is the deity wishing to help all beings. She comes in many colours and poses. Each of the 21 Taras has a special power to help us: to grant long life, prosperity, relationship harmony, to protect us from jealousy, anger, sickness and troublemakers.
The beauty and goodness that will flow from displaying the thangka will benefit many people merely by them seeing it. In addition to a Melbourne exhibition in 2018, the 21 Taras Thangka will also be at the Great Stupa of Universal Compassion at the end of March for the duration of the Heart of Wisdom retreat, receiving the extra direct blessing of being in the presence of Lama Zopa Rinpoche for six weeks.
Peter Iseli is a widely respected artist from Berne with a successful career going back to the 1970s. He has presented his work in many single and collective exhibitions in museums, art halls and galleries and has won prizes in significant visual arts institutions and has displayed important projects in public buildings in the City of Berne.
Once we have finalised the venue and dates, Peter Iseli will travel to Australia and will be in attendance for advice and information and will give talks at various Buddhist centres around Australia.