Stacks Image 3

Protectress White Umbrella Tara



Sitatapatra (White Umbrella Tara) is one of the most complex Vajrayana deities, regarded as an invincible protector. She emerged from Buddha's ushnisha when he was in the Trayastrimsa heaven. The Buddha announced her role to "cut asunder completely all malignant demons, to cut asunder all the spells of others...to turn aside all enemies and dangers and hatred."
In the Mahayana Sitatapatra Sutra, she is called Aparajita ("Undefeatable, Unconquerable") and is also identified as a form of goddess Tara.
In other sutras, she is regarded as a female counterpart to Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva of compassion. Like him, Sitatapatra manifests in many elaborate forms: having a thousand faces, arms and legs, or simply as a feminine deity of great beauty. Known foremost for her "white parasol" she is most frequently attributed with the "golden wheel". The auspiciousness of the turning of the dharma wheel is symbolic of Buddhism, both in its teachings and realizations.