It’s a painted statue of the Bodhisattva Maitreya ... Nor is it known why the image of the Buddhist goddess Tara—a green-skinned, many-armed protector—was accorded such prominence in ...

There is a particular future Buddha, a bodhisattva called Avalokiteshvara ... came that his power to save could be personified as a goddess. She represents his compassion and his power.