Strictly speaking Tara was not made to be worshipped, but to be a focus for meditation on the qualities she embodies-compassion and the power to save. She would have been seen essentially by priests or monks from a privileged elite-so in fact relatively few would actually have been able to meditate on her image.

Standing in front of her now, in the gallery, we can. And knowing something of what she meant to believers, we can better understand why her makers chose to represent her as they did. Her beauty and her serenity speak of her endless compassion. Her right hand, held down by her side, is not at rest, but in the position known as 'varada mudra', the gesture of granting a wish-a clear demonstration of her prime role as the generous helper of the faithful. Her gilded skin, and the jewels that once adorned her, make it clear that this statue of Tara can only have been commissioned by people in command of enormous wealth.

It's very rare for a statue of this scale to survive; indeed, we know of no other example of this size from medieval Sri Lanka. At this date most large bronze statues would be cast by pouring the metal around a hollow clay core. Tara by contrast is bronze through and through, so whoever made her must have had a great deal of bronze, rare skill and a lot of experience of this very challenging kind of work. Tara is not just beautiful; she is a remarkable technical achievement, and she must have been very, very expensive.