a Thangka 'Twenty-One Praises of Tārā', 19th century, Tibet, A thangka depicting twenty one fundamental emanations of Tārā referring to the Namastāraikaviṃśati¬stotra text (སྒྲོལ་མ་ལ་ཕྱག་འཚལ་ཉི་ཤུ་རྩ་གཅིག་གིས་བསྟོད་པ། or sgrol ma la phyag ’tshal nyi shu rtsa gcig gis bstod pa) popularly called the 'Twenty-One Praises of Tārā'.In the centre White Tārā is depicted. Often Tārā is said to be an emanation of the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara, said to arise from his tears in order to help him in his work. The cult of Tārā was propa-gated in the 11th century, primarily by Atīsha. Since that time, veneration of Tārā as a yi-dam (guardian) has been quite widespread.Probably this thangka refers to the Longchen Nyingtig tradition popularized by Jigme Lingpa. In the Longchen system the figures have a single face and two arms with the right hand and leg extended forward like in this thangka. In the left hand, blossoming over the left shoulder, the lotus is depicted.At the top Amitābha is pictured. Amitābha is a Tathāgata (Buddha), red in colour and he wears the traditional robes of a monk. 50 x 30 cm,