A new outlook on the bodhisattva statue in Đồng Dươnng Buddhist Monastery: Laksmindra-Lokesvara, Prajnaparamita or Tara?

Abstract

Which represents a female Bodhisattva found in the Đồng Dương Buddhist Monastery has attracted many scholars since the discovery in 1979. Those three titles of Laksmindra-Lokesvara, Prajnaparamita and Tara have been identified for this statue.
The article will first redefine the title of Tara for this copper statue, in which her crown-chignon bearing the small sculpture of a typical sitting figure like Amoghasiddhi under a Mucalinda serpent, and holding a short sword in his left hand. It will next explain that the cult of Tara which became very popular in Tantric Vajrayana, has been prevalentin ancient Champa under the patronage of the royals and elite merchants from the VIIIth century onwards.
The conclusion will discuss that the cult of Tara in Champa was the result from the extensive economic, cultural exchanges, and artistic interaction of this thriving kingdom with Southeast Asia, South Asia, East Asia and Southwest China through the “Maritime silk Road” from the Southeastward and the inter-regional overland traderoute networks from the East to the North-west of the peninsula.