Tara-Kurukulla

The Goddess Tara first appeared during a battle between the devas and the asuras. The opposing forces are in constant conflict and in one of the many battles that raged between them, the asuras wrested control of the oceans from the presiding deity Varuna and poisoned the waters of the world.

The people cried out in anguish and the devas heard their pleas. Indra himself ventured forth from his kingdom of heaven astride his war elephant, Airavata, to champion the human race.

Indra however was defeated in the battle that ensued and his defeat posed a direct threat to the devas who were then forced to call upon the Hindu Trinity for help. In response to their pleas Shiva, the third God in the Hindu trinity descended from Mt. Kailash to save the world.

The God with the matted dreadlocks consumed all the poisoned water and churned the water in his belly, separating the poison from the rest of the water. He then spat the clean water out to replenish the oceans.

As a result of drinking the poison from the water, Shiva fell ill and his body assumed a bluish hue (this is the reason why Shiva is sometimes depicted in blue. This aspect of Shiva is worshipped as Nilakantha).

Shakti, Shiva’s wife and consort, alarmed at the fate that had befallen her husband appeared in the form of Tara to nurse him back to health and this is the first mention of Tara in the Puranas.

She is worshipped especially in Tibet as the Goddess of mercy and clemency. Tara is sometimes alternatively known as Arya-Tara or Jetsun-Dolma.

According to most sources, Jetsun-Dolma is a bodhisattva i.e. an enlightened being who has attained liberation but has chosen to remain behind to help others.

Tara is also synonymous to Kurukulla or Red Tara so called because when Tara is depicted as Kurukulla she is depicted in Red. Tara-Kurukulla is a more complex Goddess and her worship is more ritualistic in nature.

Tara-Kurukulla is a bali-devata. The word bali (Sanskrit) denotes offering and the word devata (Sanskrit) connotes Goddess i.e. she is a Goddess who accepts offerings.

She is one of the 15 Nitya Devis, all of whom are parallels of the Goddess Lalitha and as such are best worshipped on the 15 days of the waxing moon i.e. the first 15 days after the full moon.

Tara is also one of the 10 Mahavidyas or one of the 10 knowledge givers, all of whom embody a different quality of Shakti. The Mahavidyas are worshiped for the purposes of obtaining spiritual, tantric and occult knowledge.