The 21 Taras: A Complete Guide to Their Names, Colors, and Meanings
In Tibetan Buddhism, Tara is one of the most beloved and widely venerated figures in the entire tradition. She is understood as a female bodhisattva, an enlightened being who has vowed to remain accessible to practitioners until all sentient beings are free from suffering. Within this broad devotion, a specific and well-defined group holds particular importance: the 21 Taras, a set of emanations whose names, colors, gestures, and functions are codified in a canonical liturgical text recited in monasteries from Lhasa to Dharamsala every morning.
Understanding the 21 Taras is not a matter of memorizing a list. It is a way into one of the most nuanced visual and devotional languages in Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism, where color, posture, hand gesture (mudra), and attribute each carry precise meaning, and where the same compassionate essence expresses itself in forms ranging from peaceful to wrathful, from golden to deep blue.
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- The 21 Taras are 21 distinct emanations of the same enlightened compassion, each with a specific color, gesture, and function.
- Their names and descriptions come from the canonical text Praise to the 21 Taras (Skt: Ekavimśatistotra), still recited daily in Tibetan monasteries.
- Two Taras anchor the group: Green Tara (active compassion) and White Tara (longevity and peaceful grace).
- Each Tara corresponds to a specific benefit or protection in Buddhist belief, ranging from fearlessness to the removal of obstacles.
- The 21 Taras iconography draws from both Mahayana and Vajrayana sources, and varies slightly across different transmission lineages.
Where the 21 Taras Come From
The canonical source for the 21 Taras is a Sanskrit hymn known as the Ekavimśatistotra, often translated as the Praise in Twenty-One Homages to Tara. Attributed to the Indian master Suryagupta, this text was translated into Tibetan and incorporated into the standard liturgy of all major Tibetan Buddhist schools: Gelug, Kagyu, Nyingma, and Sakya. It remains one of the most recited texts in the entire Tibetan canon.
Each stanza of the hymn begins with the words "Homage to Tara" and describes a specific form: her color, her posture, the sound of her mantra syllables, her facial expression, and the protection she offers. Thangka painters and sculptors have worked from these descriptions for centuries, producing depictions that, while varied in detail, follow the same underlying schema.
The text does not enumerate the 21 forms as a numbered list; rather, commentarial traditions identified and named each form based on the hymn's verses. Different lineages assign slightly different names and attributes to individual Taras, which is why you may encounter some variation across sources.
💡 Did you know?
According to Buddhist tradition, Tara was born from a tear shed by Avalokitesvara (the bodhisattva of compassion) as he wept over the vastness of suffering in the world. She vowed to attain enlightenment specifically in female form, a direct and deliberate response to the view, present in some ancient Indian circles, that liberation required a male rebirth.
The Two Foundations: Green Tara and White Tara
Before exploring the full group, two forms deserve particular attention because they appear in all lineages, are the most widely depicted, and serve as the visual and conceptual anchors for the entire set.
Green Tara (Syamatara)
Green Tara is the primary form: active, swift, and responsive. She is depicted with one leg extended and ready to rise, a posture indicating her immediate willingness to come to the aid of practitioners. Her right hand rests on her knee in the gesture of giving (varada mudra), and her left holds a blue lotus (utpala) at her heart. In the Tibetan tradition, she is associated with swiftness in answering prayers and protection from the eight great fears (lions, elephants, fire, snakes, bandits, prison, water, and demons).
White Tara (Sitatara)
White Tara is associated with longevity, compassion, and peaceful merit. She is typically shown seated in full lotus posture, with seven eyes, one on her forehead, one in each palm, and one on the sole of each foot, symbolizing her watchfulness over all beings in all realms. She holds a white lotus and is often invoked in long-life practices alongside Amitayus and Ushnishavijaya.
The 21 Emanations: Names, Colors, and Functions
The 21 Taras are grouped and named according to commentarial traditions. The following list follows the system most common in the Gelug school, as transmitted through the lineage of Atisha and later systematized in Tsongkhapa's tradition. Other schools, particularly the Nyingma, follow the Surya Gupta system with some differences in color attribution.
| # | Name | Color | Primary function (in tradition) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Praising Tara / Swift Heroine (Nyurma Pamo) | Red-gold | Swift action, fearlessness |
| 2 | Tara of Moonlit White (Dawa Karmo) | White | Pacification, longevity |
| 3 | Tara of the Golden Hue (Serchen Norbu) | Golden yellow | Increase of merit and abundance |
| 4 | Tara Who Overcomes Obstacles (Shyama) | Green | Removal of outer and inner obstacles |
| 5 | Tara Who Proclaims "HUM" (Hung Drakma) | Red | Magnetizing, gathering of favorable circumstances |
| 6 | Tara Victorious Over the Three Worlds (Jigjyed Chungma) | Dark red | Protection from negative forces in all realms |
| 7 | Tara Who Subdues (Zhengyed Ma) | Black | Wrathful subduing of harmful forces |
| 8 | Tara Who Grants Supreme Courage (Pawo Ziji) | Orange | Overcoming fear and granting bravery |
| 9 | Tara Who Protects with the Three Jewels (Kyabchog) | White | Refuge, protection of the Dharma path |
| 10 | Tara Who Dispels Sorrow (Jigten Wangchuk) | Blue-black | Dispelling grief and mental afflictions |
| 11 | Tara Who Summons All (Norter Ma) | Red | Drawing in auspiciousness and wealth (in belief) |
| 12 | Tara of Auspicious Radiance (Tashi Donme) | Golden | Bringing auspiciousness and good omens |
| 13 | Tara Who Ripens the Harvest (Legpe Lodro) | Red-orange | Maturation of spiritual and worldly efforts |
| 14 | Tara Who Frowns and Destroys (Tronyer Chen) | Dark | Wrathful destruction of obstacles and poisons |
| 15 | Tara of Great Peace (Shiwe Lhamo) | White | Deep pacification and dispelling disease |
| 16 | Tara of Blazing Radiance (Obar Ma) | Yellow-gold | Purification and the light of wisdom |
| 17 | Tara Who Shakes the World (Yul Gongma) | Red | Powerful magnetizing, stirring of forces |
| 18 | Tara Who Dispels Poisons (Dug Sel Ma) | White | Counteracting harm from poisons (in belief) |
| 19 | Tara Who Grants All Wishes (Monlam Gye) | Green | Fulfillment of aspirations in the Dharma |
| 20 | Tara Who Purifies (Dak Ma) | White | Purification of karma and obscurations |
| 21 | Tara of Perfect Accomplishment (Lhundrup Ma) | Green | Complete accomplishment of all enlightened activities |
A note on this list: the precise names in English and Tibetan vary across teachers and commentaries. What is consistent across all lineages is the underlying structure, 21 emanations, tied to the verses of the hymn, expressing the full range of enlightened activity from the most peaceful to the most wrathful.
Reading the Visual Language: Color, Mudra, and Attribute
In Tibetan iconography, nothing is arbitrary. Color alone encodes a wealth of information about a deity's family, activity, and emotional register. Understanding this visual grammar transforms a thangka from a decorative image into a readable text.
The five activity colors
Tibetan tantric iconography organizes deity activity into four or five categories, each associated with a color:
- White, pacifying (shiwé léka): calming, healing, purification
- Yellow / gold, enriching (gyepé léka): increase of merit, wisdom, sustenance
- Red, magnetizing (wangkur léka): drawing beings, gathering auspiciousness
- Black / dark blue, wrathful (trakpé léka): subjugating harmful forces, cutting through delusion
- Green, all-activity: the base form of Tara, encompassing all four functions
Mudra and lotus
The hand gestures (mudra) and held objects refine the message further. The varada mudra (open palm facing outward) signals giving and welcome. The abhaya mudra (palm raised, fingers pointing up) signals protection and fearlessness. The blue lotus (utpala) carried by most Taras connects them to the lineage of Avalokitesvara and signals compassion that remains unstained by samsara, just as a lotus grows from mud without being soiled by it.
How the 21 Taras Are Practiced
The 21 Taras are not merely an art historical subject. They are a living practice lineage. In Tibetan Buddhist monasteries and household shrines, the Praise in Twenty-One Homages is recited daily, often at dawn, before the day's activities begin. The recitation is typically done three times in sequence, either alone or as part of a group.
For lay practitioners, common forms of engagement include:
- Daily recitation of the 21 Homages text, ideally with visualization of Tara's form
- Tara puja, a longer ritual offering ceremony, particularly common on the 8th and 30th days of the Tibetan lunar month
- Tara mantra recitation: the root mantra OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SOHA can be recited on a mala as a standalone practice or integrated into any sitting session
- Thangka contemplation: in the Vajrayana tradition, gazing at a thangka of the 21 Taras while reciting the praise is itself considered a form of practice
In the Gelug tradition, preliminary practices (ngondro) sometimes include extended Tara sadhana. In the Kagyu and Nyingma schools, Tara practice is often introduced early as an accessible entry point into deity yoga, the visualization-based meditation where the practitioner identifies with the enlightened qualities of the deity rather than relating to them as an external being.
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Buddhist Decor
Statues, thangkas, and altar pieces, the objects that bring Tara practice into your physical space every day.
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Découvrir la catégorie →Lineage Variations: Surya Gupta vs. Atisha Systems
Scholars and practitioners sometimes encounter two distinct naming and color systems for the 21 Taras: the Atisha system (dominant in the Gelug school) and the Surya Gupta system (widely used in Nyingma and some Kagyu contexts). The differences are real but should not be overstated, both emerge from the same root hymn and share the same underlying devotional purpose.
The Surya Gupta system tends to assign more varied and vivid colors to individual Taras, and the thangka iconography following this system often presents a more visually diverse grouping. In the Atisha system, many Taras share Green Tara's basic appearance, differentiated primarily by minor iconographic details. If you are studying or acquiring a thangka of the 21 Taras, it is worth asking which system it follows, a reputable thangka artist or dealer will know.
"Homage to TARE, heroine, TUTTARE dispelling all fears, TURE granting all benefits, to SOHA, to whom I bow."
From the Praise in Twenty-One Homages to Tara, the seed mantra and its meaning, as glossed in classical commentaries
Tara in Your Practice Space: The Thangka and the Altar
A thangka depicting the 21 Taras is one of the most ambitious and devotionally rich objects in Tibetan Buddhist visual art. Typically arranged around a central Green Tara, the 20 additional forms radiate outward in rows, each holding the characteristic lotus and displaying the gesture specific to that form. These paintings are not decorations in the ordinary sense. In the Vajrayana tradition, a properly consecrated thangka is understood as an active presence, a support for visualization practice and a focal point for devotion.
If you are placing such an image in a home practice space, traditional guidance suggests positioning it at eye level or slightly above when seated, on a clean surface or altar, and treating it with the same care you would give to a canonical text. It should not be placed on the floor or used as general wall decoration without intention.
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Découvrir la catégorie →Carrying Tara: Mantra, Mala, and Everyday Devotion
Beyond formal sitting practice and altar work, Tara devotion in Tibetan Buddhist communities has always been integrated into daily life. Practitioners recite OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SOHA on a mala while walking, waiting, or carrying out routine tasks. The mantra's three syllables, TARE, TUTTARE, TURE, are understood in commentarial tradition as addressing three levels of liberation: from ordinary fears, from samsara itself, and from the subtlest obstacles to awakening.
A standard mala of 108 beads, made from any material consistent with your practice lineage, is the traditional support for this recitation. Some practitioners in the Tibetan tradition use malas of bodhi seed, lotus seed, or sandalwood for Tara practice specifically, though any mala held with intention serves the purpose. According to Tibetan belief, the recitation of Tara's mantra with genuine compassionate motivation generates benefit both for the practitioner and for others, a point made explicit in the closing verses of the 21 Homages text.
💡 Did you know?
The syllable TARE in Tara's mantra means "she who liberates", and Tara's very name in Sanskrit derives from the same root (tṛ, to cross over). She is, etymologically as well as devotionally, the one who carries beings across the ocean of samsara. This is mirrored in her iconography: the extended leg, always ready to step forward.
Questions about the 21 Taras
What is the main mantra associated with the 21 Taras?+
The root mantra is OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SOHA, associated primarily with Green Tara but understood in the tradition to encompass all 21 forms. Some lineages assign additional mantras to specific Taras, particularly White Tara, who has her own extended mantra for longevity practice.
Do I need initiation to practice with the 21 Taras?+
Reciting the Praise in Twenty-One Homages and the basic Tara mantra is generally considered open practice, accessible without formal initiation. Deeper Vajrayana sadhana involving full deity visualization does traditionally require empowerment (wang) and oral transmission (lung) from a qualified teacher. If in doubt, consult a teacher from your lineage.
Why are some Taras wrathful if Tara represents compassion?+
In Vajrayana Buddhism, wrath is understood as a compassionate activity, not a negative emotion. A wrathful deity form represents the forceful, direct cutting through of harmful patterns or forces, still motivated by compassion, but expressed with intensity rather than gentleness. The wrathful Taras (such as Tara #7 or #14) are called upon in circumstances where subtler approaches are inadequate, according to the tradition.
What is the difference between the Atisha and Surya Gupta systems of the 21 Taras?+
Both systems derive from the same root text but differ in how they assign colors, names, and attributes to the individual forms. The Atisha system (used mainly in the Gelug school) keeps most Taras visually similar to Green Tara. The Surya Gupta system (more common in Nyingma) assigns more varied colors to each form. The choice of system depends on your lineage and teacher.
Can people of any background practice with the 21 Taras?+
Tara practice has historically been among the most open and accessible in the Tibetan tradition. There is no restriction based on gender, nationality, or prior Buddhist background for engaging with the mantra and the praise text. Deeper tantric practice is a different matter and requires a proper teacher-student relationship, but devotion to Tara at the level of mantra recitation and contemplation is widely taught to anyone who comes with genuine interest.
