A rare idol of Tara – the female Bodhisattva in Mahayana Buddhism also known as the female Buddha in Vajrayana Buddhism was found in Ippagudem in station Ghanpur Mandal. It was a bit of shock and delight at the same time to the archaeologists and historians.
R Rathnakar Reddy, an archaeology and history enthusiast found the black granite idol abandoned in the jungle. He first thought that the idol was Yakshini of Jain mythology. But, Emani Shivanagi Reddy, famous archaeologist and historian confirmed it as Tara.
Moreover, there is an engraved image of Buddha on the hair bun. The idol’s upper body is depicted naked. Rathnakar mentioned that it was the most common description of Tara in Buddhist literature
There is also an idol of Budhha broken into two pieces near the granite idol. The broken buddha has given them a clue and this has helped them to confirm that the granite idol was Tara. Tara’s idol was three-ft-tall and Buddha’s idol was four-ft-tall. This discovery has given historians and archeologists a wonderful chance to study the Buddhist era in great detail. The archeologists have mentioned that the broken Buddha and Tara idol belongs to the 8th or 9th century AD.
Archeologists have found out the significance of the idol. Rathankar Reddy has urged the State Archaeology and Museums to shift it to a museum at the earliest. Rathankar Reddy also mentioned that Telangana had some followers of Buddha during the 9th and 10th centuries.
Sri Ramoju Haragopal, Telangana Jagruthi State secretary visited the site at Ippaguem on Friday. He also requested the government to preserve the idols. Tara was a tantric meditation deity mainly worshiped by the followers of Vajrayana Buddhism. But, there are many other stories related to her in history. Some other traditions say that Tara belongs to Hinduism and is seen as a form of Shakti.
