Statue of Tara
[4] This identification is clear evidence for the presence in the medieval period of Mahayana Buddhism as well as the Theravada form of the faith which allows Buddhists to worship beings other than Buddha.[6] Bodhisattvas are beings who have reached enlightenment but have turned back from it, out of compassion so that they can still help mankind escape from the cycle of death, rebirth and suffering.[6] The sculpture represents a standing figure of a female deity solid cast in bronze using the lost wax process.This account differs from that put forward by the British Museum who believe that the statue was simply found in the early 1800s somewhere between Trincomalee and Batticaloa on the eastern coast of Sri Lanka and subsequently acquired by Sir Robert Brownrigg.[8] When the British Museum acquired the statue, in the 1830s, they were concerned that the large exposed breasts, narrow waist and curvaceous hips would be seen as too erotic for the public so it was kept out of sight for thirty years.