纪录片《大英博物馆世界简史》 054度母雕像(1)（在线收听）

054：EPISODE 54 - Statue of Tara 度母雕像

Statue of Tara (made between eighth and ninth century AD). Bronze; from Sri Lanka

That's the sound of Buddhist monks chanting - and as you could perhaps hear they are invoking the name of Tara, the spirit of generous compassion.

We all need help to tackle the predicament of life, even the powerful and the privileged, whose private worlds I am focusing on this week. And pretty well every religion has spirits or saints, gods or goddesses that can be called upon to see us through. If you were a Sri Lankan around 800 AD you would probably have turned, like the monks we've just heard, to Tara. Over the centuries many artists have given Tara physical form, but it's hard to imagine many more beautiful than the golden, nearly life-size, figure that now serenely presides over the long Asian gallery at the British Museum.

即使拥有强权能够一手遮天,我们都需要解决生活中面临的困境,本期这件物品将焦点集中在私人世界。每一个宗教几乎都有圣灵或圣人，神或女神，让信徒在艰难时刻祈求佑护。如果你生活在公元800年左右的斯里兰卡，那一定祈求过救苦救难的度母。在数个世纪中，许多艺术家都曾赋予度母实体形象，但很难想象还会有比大英博物馆亚洲厅里收藏的这尊更精美的。它通体金色，接近真人大小，安详地立着。