White Tara with Long Life Deities

As a female buddha, Tara works for the benefit of all beings and has many manifestations. This form, known as White Tara, bestows longevity. Her right hand rests on her knee, displaying the gesture of infinite generosity, while the left holds the stem of a pure white lotus blossoming above her shoulder. The reverse of the painting is particularly interesting; it contains a depiction of a stupa with a mandala drawn in its dome and handprints of a Buddhist master. Prayers and dedications written in gold on the stupa’s body state that this painting was commissioned by Yeshe Lopsang Tenpa, likely the Eighth Tatsak Rinpoche (1760–1810). Taking refuge in Tara, he dedicates the merit of the painting’s creation to preventing untimely death and other dangers for all sentient beings and asks to bestow the blessings of a long and auspicious life. The handprints and the small seal prints underneath them may be his own.