Tara Dasha Mahavidya
तारा
TAA-raa (rhymes with 'star-ah', with a dental 't')
Tradition
Shakta
Vahana
Stands upon a corpse (shava) lying on a funeral pyre
Weapons
Kartri (Sacrificial knife/scissors), Khadga (Sword), Nilotpala (Blue lotus), Kapala (Skull cup filled with blood)
Consort
Akshobhya Shiva (a form of Lord Shiva depicted as the inert corpse beneath her feet, representing pure consciousness)
Sacred Names
Iconography
Tara is depicted as a strikingly fierce yet deeply compassionate goddess with a dark blue complexion that evokes the infinite expanse of the night sky. She stands in the pratyalidha posture — her left foot forward in a warrior's stance — upon the supine body of Shiva, who lies corpse-like (shava) upon a burning funeral pyre, symbolizing consciousness without shakti. Her matted, wild hair is adorned with serpents and sometimes a crescent moon. She wears a garland of freshly severed human heads (mundamala), typically fifty in number, representing the fifty letters of the Sanskrit alphabet and her mastery over shabda-brahman (the sacred word). Her three blazing red eyes see past, present, and future. A tiger skin wraps her waist, and her protruding belly signifies her role as the cosmic mother who contains all creation. In her four hands she carries the kartri (scissors or sacrificial knife) representing the cutting of attachments, a khadga (sword) of discriminating wisdom, a nilotpala (blue lotus) of purity arising from the mire of samsara, and a kapala (skull cup) overflowing with blood representing the intoxication of transcendent bliss. Her tongue protrudes, lapping up the negativity of the world. Unlike Kali, Tara is often shown with elaborately braided or single-knotted hair (ekajata), and her blue complexion distinguishes her as Nila Saraswati — the esoteric, tantric form of the goddess of knowledge.
Mythology
The most celebrated mythological narrative of Tara is deeply intertwined with the great cosmic event of the Samudra Manthana — the churning of the ocean of milk. When the Devas and Asuras churned the primordial ocean using Mount Mandara as the churning rod and Vasuki the serpent king as the rope, numerous divine treasures and beings emerged from the depths. But before the nectar of immortality could appear, a terrifying substance arose — Halahala, the most lethal poison in all of existence, whose toxic fumes began to engulf the three worlds, threatening to annihilate all of creation.
Lord Shiva, moved by compassion for all living beings, stepped forward and consumed the entirety of the dreadful poison. He held it in his throat through yogic power, which turned his neck blue, earning him the name Nilakantha. But the poison was of such unfathomable potency that even the Great God began to lose consciousness. His body grew limp, his eyes dimmed, and he collapsed — the supreme consciousness itself rendered inert by the world-destroying venom.
It was at this desperate moment that Goddess Tara manifested in her full cosmic splendor. Seeing her lord in mortal peril, she assumed the form of a divine mother. Just as a human mother nourishes her infant, Tara placed the stricken Shiva upon her lap and nursed him at her breast. Her celestial milk — the essence of pure shakti and the nectar of primordial compassion — coursed through Shiva's being, counteracting and absorbing the deadly Halahala. Through her maternal grace, consciousness was revived and the universe was saved from dissolution.
This act reveals Tara's deepest nature: she is the saving grace, the one who carries across (tarayati). Her name derives from the Sanskrit root 'tṛ' meaning to cross over, and she is the supreme force that ferries souls across the ocean of samsara — the endless cycle of birth, death, and suffering. Just as she rescued Shiva from the poison of cosmic destruction, she rescues her devotees from the poison of ignorance, attachment, and fear.
In another tradition preserved in the Brihad Nila Tantra, Tara is said to have manifested when Goddess Sati, before her self-immolation at Daksha's yajna, revealed the ten Mahavidya forms to prevent Shiva from attending the sacrifice. Tara appeared as the second form — a terrifying blue goddess who convinced Shiva of the omnipresent, inescapable nature of the Divine Feminine. The great saint Vasishtha is said to have been her foremost devotee, receiving her worship practices after a pilgrimage to the land of Mahachina (Tibet/China), connecting the Hindu and Buddhist streams of Tara worship through an ancient tantric lineage.
Significance
Tara occupies a unique and profound position in Hindu Shakta theology as the second Mahavidya — the goddess of transcendent wisdom who guides seekers across the most perilous thresholds of spiritual transformation. While Kali, the first Mahavidya, represents the raw power of time and dissolution, Tara embodies the compassionate application of that same fierce energy toward liberation. She is Shabda-Brahman personified — the goddess of the primordial Word — making her especially significant for mantra sadhana, poetry, learning, and all forms of sacred utterance. This is why she is also known as Nila Saraswati, the esoteric tantric counterpart to the familiar goddess of knowledge. Tara's worship is particularly central to Bengali and Assamese Tantra, with the Tarapith cremation ground in West Bengal serving as one of the most potent Shakta pilgrimage sites in India. Her sadhana is considered especially efficacious during times of crisis, danger, and despair — she is the goddess devotees invoke when all other hope has vanished. For tantric practitioners, she represents the transformative insight that arises when one confronts death, fear, and the shadow directly. Her standing upon the corpse of Shiva teaches that consciousness without active shakti is inert, and that it is the Divine Feminine that animates, sustains, and ultimately liberates all of reality.
5 Sacred Temples
Tarapith Temple
Birbhum, West Bengal
Tara Tarini Temple (Shakti Pitha)
Ganjam, Odisha
Ugra Tara Temple
Guwahati, Assam
Neel Saraswati Temple (near Kamakhya)
Kamrup, Assam
Tara Devi Temple
Shimla, Himachal Pradesh
Primary Mantra
ॐ ह्रीं स्त्रीं हुं फट्
Oṃ Hrīṃ Strīṃ Huṃ Phaṭ
Om — the primordial cosmic vibration; Hrīṃ — the bīja of Māyā and divine creative power; Strīṃ — the bīja of Tārā embodying the feminine principle of liberation; Huṃ — the bīja of fierce protective energy and Shiva-consciousness; Phaṭ — the astra (weapon) bīja that shatters all obstacles and negativity. Together, this mantra invokes Tārā's power to cut through ignorance and ferry the devotee across the ocean of worldly suffering.
Associated Festivals
Navaratri (Nine Nights of the Goddess, especially during Sharad Navaratri)
Phalaharini Kali Puja (Jyeshtha Amavasya, especially celebrated at Tarapith)
Diwali / Kali Puja (Kartik Amavasya, when all Mahavidyas are worshipped)
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