Khara Khoto: Tapestry of Green Tara

CHINA, Inner Mongolia, Alxa; Western Xia period

This silk tapestry was excavated from the city of Khara Khoto in Inner Mongolia.
Green Tara wears a three-prong crown with ribbons hanging down. She has curly hair that extends to her shoulders. Her face is oval and she has a pair of slender eyes and crescent brows. She wears a necklace, armlets, and bracelets, and is dressed in a thin, sleeveless blouse and short skirt. Her right hand extends out with palm facing down as she holds a long-stalked lotus in her left hand and a similar lotus extends from her right side. She sits on a lotus throne with her left leg folded and her right leg extended with the foot stepping on a lotus. Above the nimbus, there is a makara flanked by golden geese. The tri-color mandorla is very wide.
Above Green Tara are the Five Dhyani Buddhas. Below the throne on the left stands Marici, whose left hand is raised to clasp the branch of an asoka tree, while her right hand is placed by her side. To the right is the wrathful Ekajati Tara with a flaming mandorla, holding a cleaver in the right hand and a skull bowl in the left. Four dakinis are depicted at the top and bottom of the tapestry.