Wrapped in a pleated dhoti and wearing a small headband with a figure of Avalokiteshvara, this White Tara is sparingly ornamented on her bared bosoms. In an archaic simplicity of an ascetic, her right hand extends in wish-granting gesture (Varada mudra), her left hand raised in teaching Dhyana mudra. She is seated in a lotus posture, with a remnant of saffron powder from past worships on a footed three-tier rectangular throne. In addition to the Qianlong Emperor seal mark (1736-1795) embossed in the back, the various elements found in this Tara shrine confirmed India's ultimate Buddhist influence in China.

There are twenty-one forms of Tara. The three most important forms are White Tara, Green Tara, and Red Tara. Born from a compassionate tear of Avalokitesvara, she is a female Buddha and meditation deity first introduced into Tibet in the seventh century. Through the great Guru Padmasambhava, she became a Vajrayana deity along with Indian Buddhism into Tibet. The Sanskrit name of White Tara is Goddess Saraswati and associated with art and literature, and longevity.