Tara

Tara is the second of the ten Mahavidyas, a goddess who guides devotees across the ocean of existence. In Hindu Tantra she is shown with blue skin, a garland of skulls and a sword, standing on a corpse. A gentle form of Tara is also revered in Buddhism. In Odisha she is best known through the Tara Tarini shrine on the Kumari hill near Purushottampur in Ganjam district, where two stone goddess faces are worshipped, and through the Buddhist Tara images at Ratnagiri. The Tuesdays of Chaitra bring the largest crowds to Tara Tarini.

In Hindu Tantric texts, Tara is a form of the Great Goddess whose name means the star and the one who carries across. Her best known story is linked to the churning of the ocean. When the poison Halahala rose and threatened the world, Shiva drank it, and the poison burned his throat. According to...