ow that she was
adored as a female Bodhisattva. In Tibet Tara is an important deity
who assumes many forms and even before the tantric influence had
become prominent she seems to have been associated with Avalokita. In
the Dharmasangraha she is named as one of the four Devis, and she is
mentioned twice under the name of To-lo Pu-sa by Hsuean Chuang, who saw
a statue of her in Vaisali and another at Tiladhaka in Magadha. This
last stood on the right of a gigantic figure of Buddha, Avalokita
being on his left.[34]

Hsuean Chuang distinguishes To-lo (Tara) and Kuan-tzu-tsai. The latter
under the name of Kuan-yin or Kwannon has become the most popular
goddess of China and Japan, but is apparently a form of Avalokita. The
god in his desire to help mankind assumes many shapes and, among
these, divine womanhood has by the suffrage of millions been judged
the most appropriate. But Tara was not originally the same as
Kuan-yin, though the fact that she accompanies Avalokita and shares
his attributes may have made it easier to think of him in female
form.[35]

The circumstances in which Avalokita became a goddess are obscure. The
Indian images of him are not feminine, although his sex is hardly
noticed before the tantric period. He is not a male deity like
Krishna, but a strong, bright spirit and like the Christian archangels
above sexual distinctions. No female form of him is reported from
Tibet and this confirms the idea that none was known in India,[36] and
that the change was made in China. It was probably facilitated by the
worship of Tara and of Hariti, an ogress who was converted by the
Buddha and is frequently represented in her regenerate state caressing
a child. She is mentioned by Hsuean Chuang and by I-Ching who adds that
her image was already known in China. The Chinese also worshipped a
native goddess called T'ien-hou or T'ou-mu. Kuan-yin was also
identified with an ancient Chinese heroine called Miao-shen.[37] This
is parallel to the legend of Ti-tsang (Kshitigarbha) who, though a
male Bodhisattva, was a virtuous maiden in two of his previous
existences. Evidently Chinese religious sentiment required a Madonna
and it is not unnatural if the god of mercy, who was reputed to assume
many shapes and to give sons to the childless, came to be thought of
chiefly in a feminine form. The artists of the T'ang dynasty usually
represented Avalokita as a youth with a slight moustache and the
evidence as to early female figure