"Tara Devagana" is a masterpiece taken from Sri Lanka and kept in the London Museum

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The statue of Tara Devagana in the most beautiful posture in the Wenkel courtyard to the metal statues of the British Museum in London can be considered as a masterpiece created by a leading oriental artist who lived in Ceylon during the 7th or 8th century.  This bronze statue is gilded and polished to a very high finish.  There are two opinions regarding this statue and one opinion is that it is a statue of Goddess Pattini based on the Hindu religious features that influenced the culture of Ceylon during the last part of the Anuradhapura Kingdom.  The other view is that Mahayana Buddhism was spreading faster than Theravada Buddhism in Ceylon in the 7th century AD, so this is a statue of the goddess Tara associated with the Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva story in the Mahayana philosophy.


Confirming this second view, later statues of the goddess Tara with similar features were found in East Asian countries, which led to the conclusion that the statue was a 'Tara goddess'.  Made with the body features of a very beautiful woman, this beautiful hand-sewn seal is on display.  The upper bouts featured two cutaways, for easier access to the higher frets.  The face has a very kind look and is considered by many to be full of compassion and friendship.  There is a hole in the center of the carving on the headboard, which may have been a gem-encrusted spot.




According to historical records, this precious statue, which is considered to be a priceless statue, was stolen from the monuments of the then King Robert Brownry, the then Governor of Ceylon in 1830, after his accession to the Kingdom of Kandy, and was secretly sent to Britain.  But Britain, which opposes the idea, says it was captured by British officials during construction in the Trincomalee area in 1800 and handed over to the British government.




However, authorities have been reluctant to display the statue of the Goddess Tara, which was brought to the London Museum in 1830, due to its large breasts and naked torso.  The statue, which had been hidden for about 30 years until the end of the Victorian moral era, was on display after 1860.  But it was first seen and studied by people who studied history and archeology as a subject.



This is currently housed in a very safe section of the London Museum.  On several occasions the Government of Sri Lanka requested that the statue be returned to Sri Lanka as it was a valuable creation that should have been stolen from Sri Lanka, but the request was not well received.  This is because there is a huge demand for this Tara statue in the London Museum.  Therefore, a statue similar to the shape and size of this statue has been made and is on display at the Colombo National Museum.

 The Museum of London still has about 32 other masterpieces and antiquities that were stolen from Sri Lanka and abducted by various officials at various times and sold to the British, including the statue of the Goddess Tara.


 Excerpted from Lanka_History 2 and translated into English.




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