Tara In Hinduism: Study With Textual And Iconographical Documentation

by Bikas Kumar Bhattacharya

This documentation will help researches to make a through investigation into the Brahmanical cult of Tara, especially, in the background of cultural and ideological developments of India.

The Ist Chapter presents a survey of the development of the concepts of the Mother Goddess in ancient India as gleaned from textual and archaeological sources, vis-à-vis the seedling of the godhead of Tara in her pleasant and terrible forms. The II chapter comprises a catalogue of 265 antique images of Tara. It outlines their antiquity and provenance. The III chapter includes: (i) Sanskrit (roman) text, with English translation of the Taratantra, selections from the Rudrayamala and the Brahma-yamala-(ii) summaries in English of 26 primary texts of the Brahmanical cult of Tara; (iii) descriptive union catalogue of manuscripts of 150 Sanskrit texts relating to this cult. The IV chapter deals with textual interpretations of 55 terms highlighting their historical, cultural, social, religious, spiritual and philosophical imports in order to get a holistic understanding of the cult.

The V chapter draws a linear development of the cult; probes into its genesis in the pre-Vedic Indus Valley civilization down to its contributions to the formation of the spirit of swadeshi in present days.

Table of Contents:

• Abbreviations  
• Introduction
• Mother Goddesses and Tara in Ancient India 
• Tara from Archaeological Sources
• Tara from Brahmanical Textual Sources
• Textual Interpretations
• Conclusion
• Biliography
• Index.

About the Author:

Bhattacharya, Bikash Kumar (b. 1953), Ph. D., B.LIS., is an avid researcher of Indian religion and culture. As an incumbent in the Library of Congress (New Delhi), the Indira Gandhi National Centre of the Arts, and the Sahitya Akademi he has earned professional skill in the preparation of Ideological bibliography and documentation.