Abstract:
Gender has always been one of the most curious, discussed issues among historians, yet, we
are as far from solving this puzzle as the ancient theorists who focused on it. With these
questions, this paper is trying to look at these early themes about gender and sexuality in the
Tantric forms of Buddhism that became influential in India around the sixth century C.E. and
later flourished in Tibetan Buddhism. The objective of the paper is to understand gender
relations, within the Buddhist community, and this will be done based on the religious
practices of Tantric Buddhists and by looking at the divine pantheon of Tantric Buddhism
and the development of female fraction in the pantheon. The paper will focus on one
particular goddess i.e. Tara Devī. The research will trace the transformation of her role in the
Buddhist Pantheon, from her being one of the attendants of Bodhisattva Avlokiteśvara to her
becoming a Bodhisattva. Moreover, she is the one and only female Bodhisattva, the highest
divine status which can be achieved within Tantric Buddhism. It is this transformation which
will be the centre of this research. This paper is working with the idea that changes in the
mythological world reflects the changes which are taking place in the actual world and hence,
the recognition of the feminine divine within religions reflects the change in the social
perception of gender. Hence, at large this paper is trying to understand and trace the changes
in the social perception of gender, from a historical perspective.
