Green Tara and White Tara are not two goddesses competing for your attention. They are two faces of one figure. Tara is the female bodhisattva of compassion in Tibetan Buddhism — the swift mother who answers those in fear, danger, and illness. Green Tara and White Tara are her two most widely revered forms, and the difference between them is practical, not decorative.
If you have ever stood in front of a thangka or a jewellery listing and could not tell which Tara you were looking at, the answer is usually simple. Look at three things: the colour, the posture, and the eyes. Those three details tell you almost everything. This guide explains what each form means, which one people turn to and when, and whether wearing Tara as jewellery is appropriate.
By Daniel Van · Published October 5, 2026 · Updated October 5, 2026
What Is the Difference Between Green Tara and White Tara?
The short answer: Green Tara acts, and White Tara restores. Both are Tara — one awakened compassion, expressed in two modes. Green Tara is the form you invoke when there is a specific danger, fear, or obstacle in front of you right now. White Tara is the form you turn to when the problem is the body itself: illness, exhaustion, grief, or a wish for long life.
Green Tara and White Tara are two forms of Tara, the female bodhisattva of compassion in Tibetan Buddhism. According to Tibetan tradition, both arose from the tears of Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva of compassion, as he wept over the suffering of the world: one tear became Green Tara, the active force of compassion, and the other became White Tara, compassion’s motherly, healing aspect. Green Tara is depicted with green skin and one leg extended, a sign that she is ready to rise and act at once; her domain is protection, courage, and the swift removal of obstacles and fear. White Tara is depicted with white skin and seven eyes — three on her face, one in each palm, and one in each sole — and her domain is longevity, healing, and the pacifying of illness. Together, they express a single compassion in two modes: action and restoration.
The table below sets the two forms side by side. It is the quickest way to tell them apart, whether you are looking at a painted scroll, a brass statue, or a bead.
| Attribute | Green Tara | White Tara |
|---|---|---|
| Colour | Green — active compassion, vitality, growth | White — purity, peace, longevity |
| Sanskrit / Tibetan name | Syamatara · Sgrol-ljang | Sitatara · Sgrol-dkar |
| Posture | Half-seated (royal ease); right leg extended downward | Full lotus; fully seated in meditation |
| Eyes | Three (on the face) | Seven (face, forehead, both palms, both soles) |
| Flower held | Blue utpala (blue lotus), often closed | White utpala, often full-blown |
| Main vocation | Protection; removing obstacles and fear; swift action | Longevity, healing, purification of the mind |
| Mantra | Om Tare Tuttare Ture Soha | Om Tare Tuttare Ture Mama Ayuh Punya Jnana Pustim Kuru Soha |
| Turn to her when | You face danger, fear, a stuck decision, a looming obstacle | You face illness, exhaustion, grief, or wish for a long life |
Where Does the Story of Tara Come From?
Tara’s name comes from the Sanskrit root meaning “she who liberates” or “she who ferries across.” In Tibetan she is Drolma. Her earliest textual appearance is usually traced to the Manjushri mula kalpa, a text composed between roughly the 5th and 8th centuries, where she appears in several mandalas. From India she travelled with merchants and pilgrims into Tibet and the Himalayas, where devotion to her became what it is today.
Two origin stories circulate. The older one concerns a princess — called Yeshe Dawa, the Moon of Wisdom — who practised for aeons and was told by monks that she should pray to be reborn as a man in order to reach enlightenment. She refused, vowing to attain enlightenment in a female body, lifetime after lifetime, until all beings were free. The Buddha of that era named her Tara, the Liberator.
The better-known story is the tear. Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva of compassion, looked out over the six realms and saw that suffering had not decreased despite his efforts. His tears fell, and from them a lotus opened, revealing Tara. One tear became her green form, the active force of compassion; the other became her white form, compassion’s motherly aspect. This is why the two forms are so often shown together and why neither is “more important” than the other.
Why Is Green Tara Shown with One Foot Extended?
Green Tara is usually painted seated in “royal ease” (lalitasana): her left leg folded, her right leg extended, foot resting on a small lotus. Read it as body language. She is not withdrawn into deep meditation; she is half-risen, ready to step forward the instant someone calls. In one common form, her right hand makes the gesture of generosity (varada mudra) and her left hand makes the refuge gesture, thumb and ring finger joined — the union of action and insight, with the three raised fingers standing for the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha.
Her signature protection is the eight great fears: lions (pride), wild elephants (ignorance), fire (anger), snakes (jealousy), thieves and bandits (false views), floods (desire), captivity (greed), and demons (doubt). These are read on two levels at once — the literal dangers of travel and the inner forces that trouble a mind. That double reading is why Green Tara is the form people turn to before a journey, a hard conversation, or a decision they have been avoiding.
What Do White Tara’s Seven Eyes Mean?
White Tara carries seven eyes instead of three. Three sit on her face; one is on her forehead, one in the palm of each hand, and one in the sole of each foot. The forehead eye sees all the buddha-fields without obstruction; the six remaining eyes watch the six realms of beings, and whoever is seen by them, tradition says, is freed. The symbolism is not surveillance but attention: there is no direction — above, below, front, behind, moving or still — in which suffering can escape her notice.
That is why White Tara is the figure invoked for longevity and healing. In Tibetan practice she is grouped with Amitayus (the Buddha of Infinite Life) and Ushnishavijaya (the Victorious Crown Mother) as the “Three Long-Life Deities.” Monasteries hold White Tara rituals for the sick and the dying; families commission her image when someone they love is fragile. Her colour, her posture, and the three blossoms at her left hand (one bud, one half-open, one full) are all statements about ripening gently rather than rushing.
Is White Tara the Same as Green Tara?
They are the same being, in the way that a person at rest and the same person mid-stride are the same person. In Tibetan tradition, Green Tara is considered the original form from which the others emanate, and White Tara is one of those emanations — the pacifying, healing aspect. Both are understood as emanations of Avalokiteshvara, and both are counted among the twenty-one Taras, the set of forms praised in the liturgy recited in monasteries and by lay practitioners around the world.
Practically speaking, the “same or different” question rarely matters to a practitioner. What matters is which form meets the situation in front of you. Invoking Green Tara and White Tara is not a menu of rival goddesses; it is choosing the right tool of attention for the job, the way you might choose between a lamp and a stretcher — both are for the same hike.
Which Tara Should You Pray To?
Use Green Tara when the disturbance is external and urgent — fear before something, an obstacle you can name, a decision you are circling, a sense that events are moving against you. Use White Tara when the disturbance is internal and slow — an illness, a recovery, a season of grief, or a long-term wish for health and years.
The traditional answer is that if you are unsure, start with Green Tara; her practice is considered an open, accessible entry point, and many people simply recite her mantra — Om Tare Tuttare Ture Soha — in the morning to set the day’s intention. White Tara’s mantra adds the explicit request for longevity and wisdom. Even a short, unceremonious recitation, whispered before the day begins, is treated as valid.
Can You Wear Green Tara or White Tara as Jewellery?
Yes — and the two forms carry slightly different intentions, so the choice is usually made by what the wearer needs. A Green Tara pendant is worn as protection, especially in travel or transition. A White Tara is worn for health and long life, and is a common gift for someone recovering or marking a milestone.
Tara is most often met in thangka painting, but she also travels on the body. A gau box — the small metal shrine Tibetans wear at the chest — traditionally holds a tiny Tara image, a written mantra, or a relic, which is precisely the idea of carrying her with you. If you are building a mala for Tara practice, the bead itself is not a requirement; the mantra and the intention are. For a deeper look at how Tibetan spiritual jewellery is made and chosen, see our guide to dzi beads and their symbolism.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Green Tara or White Tara more powerful?
Neither. They are two modes of one awakened compassion — Green Tara’s swift action and White Tara’s pacifying care. The tradition treats them as complementary, not ranked.
Why is White Tara sometimes called the “Mother of All Buddhas”?
Tara is identified with prajna, the wisdom of emptiness, and every buddha is said to arise from that wisdom as a child arises from a mother. The title is shared by both Green and White Tara.
Can a man wear Tara jewellery?
Yes. Tara is not a gendered charm but a bodhisattva of universal compassion, and her practice is open to anyone regardless of gender — she is often called “our mother,” not “the women’s deity.”
What does the Green Tara mantra mean?
Om Tare Tuttare Ture Soha unfolds as a progression: Tare calls on Tara the liberator; Tuttare calls for protection from danger; Ture expresses the swift fulfilment of aspiration; Soha seals the invocation. It is traditionally recited with a 108-bead mala.
How can I tell which Tara I am looking at in a shop?
Colour first (green or white), then posture (one leg extended = Green; full lotus = White), then eyes (three = Green; seven = White). The flower — blue or white utpala — confirms it.
Sources & Further Reading
- Encyclopaedia Britannica (Kids) — Tara: kids.britannica.com/kids/article/Tara/71258
- Rigpa Wiki (Tibetan Buddhist encyclopedia) — Tara: rigpawiki.org — Tara
- Univers-Tibet — Green Tara and White Tara: Key Differences: univers-tibet.com — Green Tara vs White Tara
- Enlightenment Thangka — Understanding Tara in Buddhism: enlightenmentthangka.com — Understanding Tara
- 藏人文化网（中共西藏自治区委员会宣传部党建网转载）— 藏传佛教中的度母: ali.xzdw.gov.cn — 藏传佛教中的度母
Written by Daniel Van, Sacred Tibet. Published October 5, 2026. Last updated October 5, 2026.