Tara

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( fl c. 1560-1600). Indian miniature painter. His work conformed to the conventions of the period of patronage of the Mughal emperor Akbar (reg 1556-1605), and he contributed to at least five manuscripts during this time. His work is characterized by a love of bright primary colours and a lively sense of movement and realism. By 1590 his work shows an experienced hand and a firm handling of the brush, with a clear grasp of the techniques of stippling and feathered shading. Possibly a Hindu, Tara appears fairly low on the list of 17 prized artists compiled by Abu'l-Fazl, Akbar's court biographer, in the Ayin-i Akbari. In a detailed study of the Tutinama ('Tales of a parrot'; c. 1560-65; Cleveland, OH, Mus. A., MS. 62.279), two folios are assigned to this artist. This would place Tara on the level of the more senior artists in the workshop in the early years of Akbar's patronage.

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Tara (Old Irish Temair, Modern Irish Teamhair, meaning ‘place of assembly’), the seat of the High King (ard-rí) of Ireland for centuries, and the site of his inauguration. Known as Temair na Rig (Tara of the Kings), it comprises a complex of earthworks and lies south-east of Navan, Co. Meath. It was a place of ritual burial from c.2000 BC, long before the arrival of the Celts in Ireland. A large oval enclosure called Ráth na Ríg (Fort of the Kings) contains two earth-works known as Forad (Royal Seat) and Tech Cormaic (Cormac's House). A pillar-stone at the latter is referred to as Lia Fáil, the inauguration stone of the High King, but it is unlikely that this is the original monument. A rectangular earthwork is known as Tech Midchuarta and is said to have been a banqueting-hall. The five main roads of Ireland radiated from Tara. Tara symbolized the unity of Ireland, which had its human embodiment in the King inaugurated at the site. The ritual known as Feis Temrach (Mating of Tara), where the King was mated with the tutelary goddess of Ireland, confirmed the monarch's sovereignty [see Irish mythology].

Hill (507 feet) in Co. Meath, 6 miles SE of Navan, where the Irish ard rí [high king] is said to have had his seat. One of the most famous sites in the Celtic world, partially because of well-meaning but romantic misreadings of evidence by 19th-century poets and fiction-writers, Tara is unspectacular to visit, yet excavations there have yielded abundant and interesting information. According to the pseudo-history Lebor Gabála [Book of Invasions], the mortal Milesians named the site Temair after Éremón's queen, Téa, displacing the earlier name, Druim Caín. Other names applied to Tara are: Cathair Crofhind, Druim Léith, and Fordruim. Forms of the name Temair survive elsewhere, e.g. Tara hill (831 feet), 4 miles NE of Gorey, Co. Wexford.

From the earliest Irish history Tara was an important centre of religious ceremony, sacred to Medb, then considered a goddess, or to her double, Medb Lethderg [red side]. It had been a burial site as early as the second millennium BC. Tara was the seat of kings who were also over-kings of the region and heads of the Uí Néill federation, and thus the most powerful leaders in all Ireland. Central to each kingship was the ritual mating with the local earth-goddess in a ritual banquet, the feis temrach [feast of Tara] at Samain time; see also KINGSHIP; BANAIS RÍGHE. The Uí Néill were named for Niall Noígiallach [of the Nine Hostages], who had supposedly seized Tara from the Leinstermen in the 5th century, before Christianization. As the Irish rule of descent (see DERBFHINE) did not foster an orderly distribution of property, Niall's many sons carved up what had been his hegemony. Later ‘king of Tara’ was only an honorary title for a ruler whose seat was often far distant. Beginning with Sláinge, said to have reigned in the 20th century BC, the Annals list many monarchs of Tara, both pagan and Christian. The advance of Christianity may have led to the suppression of the highly pagan feis temrach; Diarmait mac Cerbaill was the last to celebrate it. Later ecclesiastical writers invented the story of St Rúadán's curse upon Diarmait in a Church/State dispute. Testimony in the Annals implies that Tara was by no means abandoned even two centuries later. The Uí Néill continued to refer to their leaders as ‘kings of Tara’, although the site itself became overgrown. In time the hill also attracted one of the largest of the medieval fairs [Old Irish óenach; Modern Irish aonach], held triennially at Samain, and comparable to those held at Tailtiu, Tlachtga, and Uisnech; the legendary king Ollam Fódla is thought to have begun the fair.

Much of the action of early Irish literature either takes place at Tara or touches upon it, but always from a distant narrative point of view, i.e. on the assumption that events portrayed had taken place in the past. The stories of Conaire Mór depict a magical kingdom at Tara. The most important mythical king of Tara is Cormac mac Airt, whose court may have been derived from Uí Néill ambitions or aspirations. The young Fionn mac Cumhaill earns his first heroic distinction by slaying the ‘burner’, Aillén mac Midgna, who comes to prey upon the ‘palace’ each year. Lóegaire mac Néill is the king of Tara who meets St Patrick.

Many features of the Tara site bear English names of modern provenance, some from an imaginative reading of the Dindshenchas; their long-term popularity makes them irresistible, even when there is scant evidence to shore up their purported associations. These include:

Adamnán's Cross. Upright stone attributed to St Adamnán, St Colum Cille's biographer, containing vague outlines of a female figure, possible a Sheela-na-gig.

The ‘Banqueting Hall’ [Irish tech midchuarta, teach miodhchuarta]. Rectangular earthwork, 750 by 90 feet, which does not match the descriptions of the five-sided banqueting hall in medieval literature. Recent scholarship favours an entrance-way for horses and chariots.

Cormac's House [Irish teach Cormaic]. Small earthwork enclosed by the Fort/Rath of Kings (see below) at whose centre stands the Lia Fáil (see below). Named for the mythical king of Tara, Cormac mac Airt.

Fort/Rath of the Kings [Irish ráth na ríogh]. Also known as the Royal Enclosure. Large, oval hill-fort, 950 by 800 feet, which nearly encircles three other earthworks (Cormac's House, the Mound of Hostages, the Royal Seat) and the Lia Fáil.

Fort/Rath of the Synods. Trivallate earth-work once thought to have been the site of a meeting between St Patrick and St Brendan as well as other non-contemporaries. In the late 19th century British Israelites mutilated portions of the earthworks looking for the Ark of the Covenant. Later excavations showed timber palisades from the 1st and 3rd centuries AD.

Lia Fáil [stone of destiny]. Twelve-foot erect pillar-stone, 6 feet above ground, made of granular limestone, not quarried in the district, raised to honour the dead of the 1798 revolution. Found lying horizontally near the Mound of Hostages, it was moved to the centre of Cormac's House and is now marked with the letters ‘R.I.P.’ Assertions that it is identical with the ancient Lia Fáil or mythical Fál are less than convincing.

Mound of the Hostages [Irish dumha na ngiall]. Small earthworks at the north end of the Fort/ Rath of the Kings. Records indicate that the ‘Lia Fáil’ now standing at Cormac's House (see above) should have been here before 1798.

Ráth Gráinne [Gráinne's fort, Gráinne's enclosure]. A burial-mound between the Banqueting Hall and the Sloping Trenches, fancifully thought to be the place whence Gráinne eloped with Diarmait while betrothed to Fionn mac Cumhaill.

Ráth Lóegaire, Ráth Laoghaire [Laoghaire's fort, Leary's fort]. Large, univallate ring-fort associated with Lóegaire mac Néill, the king of Tara at the time of St Patrick.

Ráth Meidbe, Rath Maeve [Irish, Maeve's fort]. A univallate hill-fort, 750 feet in diameter, half a mile S of the centre of Tara. Although queen of Connacht, Medb is cited at Tara in Fled Bricrenn [Briccriu's Feast] and elsewhere.

Royal Seat [Irish Forradh]. Small earthworks adjacent to Cormac's House (see above).

Sloping Trenches [Irish Claoin-fhearta]. Two unusual ring-earthworks in the far north-west of the site.

Bibliography

• George Petrie, History and Antiquities of Tara Hill (Dublin, 1839)
• Josef Baudiš, “‘On the Antiquity of the Kingship at Tara’”, Ériu, 8 (1916), 101–7
• R. A. S. Macalister, Tara: A Pagan Sanctuary of Ancient Ireland (London, 1931)
• Seán P. Ó Ríordáin, Tara: The Monuments on the Hill (Dundalk, 1954, 1971)
• “‘Tara’”, in G. E. Daniel (ed.), Myth of Legend (London, 1954), 49–59
• D. A. Binchy, “‘The Fair of Tailtiu and the Feast of Tara’”, Ériu, 18 (1958), 113–38
• E. Estyn Evans, Prehistoric and Early Christian Ireland, a Guide (London, 1966)
• Francis J. Byrne, Irish Kings and High-Kings (London, 1973)
• Michael Herity and George Eogan, Ireland in Prehistory (London, 1977)

Look up Tara or tara in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Tara may refer to:

Contents 1 Religions and deities 2 People and characters 2.1 Titles 3 Places 3.1 Buildings 3.2 Natural features 3.2.1 Rivers 3.3 Settlements 3.4 Other 4 Companies and organizations 5 Works of fiction 5.1 Novels 5.2 Film and television 5.3 Settings 5.4 Other 6 Science 7 Music 8 Other 9 See also

Religions and deities

• Tara (Buddhism), is a tantric meditation deity in Tibetan Buddhism, actually the generic name for a set of similar bodhisattvas

• In Hinduism:

• Tara (Devi), a Mahavidya of Mahadevi, Kali or Parvati
• In Indian Hinduism, the star goddess Tara is a manifestation of the queen of time, Kali
• Another name for Taraka, the second wife of Brihaspati
• Tara (Ramayana), the wife of the monkey king Vali, who married Vali's brother and successor, Sugriva, after Vali's death

• Tara, the mother goddess in the Druidic religion
• Tara, a sea goddess in Polynesian mythology

People and characters

• Tara (name), a list of people and characters with the name

Titles

• Baron Brabazon of Tara, UK title
• Baron Tara, Irish title
• Kingship of Tara, a title of authority in ancient Ireland
• Viscount Tara, Irish title

Places

Buildings

• Tara, Cairo, villa in Gezira Island, Cairo, made famous by its inhabitants during World War II
• Tara, Chertsey, Surrey, UK, previously the home of drummer Keith Moon
• Tara Theatre, an art house movie theater in Atlanta named after the plantation in Gone With the Wind

Natural features

• 5863 Tara, an asteroid
• Batu Tara, an island in the Flores Sea in Indonesia
• Hill of Tara, Co. Meath, Ireland, ritual site of ancient High Kings of Ireland
• Salar de Tara, salt pan in Chile
• Tara, County Down, a townland in County Down, Northern Ireland
• Tara Hill, County Wexford, Ireland
• Tara Mountain and Tara National Park in Serbia
• Tara River Canyon in Montenegro
• Tara, Saga, town, mountain and mountain range in Saga Prefecture, Japan

Rivers

• Tara (Drina), in Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Tara (Greece), in Arcadia, Greece
• Tara (Italy), a small river near Taranto
• Tara River (Russia), in Siberia, Russia

Settlements

• Qila Tara Singh, a town and union council of Depalpur Tehsil in the Okara District of Punjab Province, Pakistan
• Tara, Afghanistan, in Wardak Province
• Tara, Ethiopia, a village in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia
• Tara Garh, a village in the Pattoki tehsil of Kasur District in the West Punjab, Pakistan
• Tara Hills, California, USA
• Tara, Ireland, a village in Ireland
• Tara Khēl, a village in Deh Sabz District, Kabul Province, Afghanistan
• Țara Moților, an ethnogeographical region of Romania
• Tara Nagar, a village in Gorkha District in the Gandaki Zone of northern-central Nepal
• Tara, Nepal, a village in Baglung District in the Dhawalagiri Zone of central Nepal
• Tara, Ontario, village in Canada
• Tara, Queensland, town in Australia
• Tara, Russia, town in Omsk Oblast, Russia
• Tara, Saga, town, mountain and mountain range in Saga Prefecture, Japan
• Tara Township, Minnesota (disambiguation), USA; several places
• Tara, Zambia, a village in the Southern Province of Zambia

Other

• Đurđevića Tara Bridge, bridge over the Tara River in northern Montenegro
• Shire of Tara, Queensland, Australia
• Tara Anglican School for Girls, North Parramatta, New South Wales, Australia
• Tara Boulevard, modern name of the road where the fictional Tara Plantation was said to be located.
• Țara Călatei, a region in western Romania
• Tara County, New South Wales, Australia
• Tara Field, airport in Clayton County, Georgia, USA
• Tara High School, Baton Rouge, LA, USA
• Tara Mine, a zinc and lead mine near Navan, County Meath, Ireland
• Tara River Canyon, canyon in Montenegro
• Tara Station in Saga Prefecture, Japan
• Tara Street, a major traffic route in Dublin, Ireland
• Tara Street railway station in Dublin, Ireland

Companies and organizations

• Kiah & Tara Jean, a Canadian radio show in Vancouver, British Columbia
• Ţara, a newspaper from the Republic of Moldova
• Tara Air, Nepalese airline
• Tara Arts, cross-cultural theatre production group in London, U.K.
• Tara expedition, Arctic voyage 2006-08
• Tara Foundation, charity for transgendered people
• Tara Hurdle, a horse race in Ireland
• Tara Institute, a Tibetan Buddhist center located in the suburb of East Brighton in Melbourne
• Tara International, Indian marketer for Tara Green Auto
• Tara (Israel), dairy co-operative
• Tara Labs, manufacturer of high-end audio products
• Tara Newz, Bengali news channel
• Tara (Northern Ireland), loyalist group
• Tara Television (or Tara TV), an Irish cable and satellite channel

Works of fiction

Novels

• Tara Road, a 1998 novel by Irish writer Maeve Binchy

Film and television

• Ballad of Tara, "Cherike ye Tara", an Iranian film directed by Bahram Bayzai
• Nepali Tara, a Nepali television series
• Tara (1992 film), an Indian film directed by Bijaya Jena
• Tara (2001 film), an American film, also known as Hood Rat, directed by Leslie Small
• Tara (TV series), soap opera that aired on Zee TV
• TARA, acronym for The Amazing Race Asia, a reality game show on the AXN network
• Tara Road (film), a 2005 film based on the novel
• Tara Sasankam, a popular Indian play and 1941 and 1969 films
• Tara Tena, a TV program in the Philippines
• United States of Tara, a 2009 US comedy-drama TV series

Settings

• Tara Plantation, fictional home of Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind
• Tara, a planet setting of the Doctor Who serial The Androids of Tara
• Tara (Artemis Fowl), a location in the Artemis Fowl series, also a real location in Ireland

Other

• Queen Tara, play by Darrell Figgis. Opened at the Gaiety Theatre, Dublin, February 25, 1913. Produced by Henry Herbert.

Science

• Tara (genus), a genus of jumping spiders
• Tara tree in Peru
• Tara (shrub), a Malagasy name for Lemuropisum edule
• TARA, the acronym for the Timed Antagonistic Response Alethiometer, a type of lie detection technique
• Tara, a theoretical founding ancestor of Haplogroup T
• A Vitis rotundifolia grape variety

Music

• T-ara, a 7-member South Korean girl music group
• Tara (Absu album)
• Tara (Yano album)
• "Tara" (song), a song on Moya Brennan's 2003 album Two Horizons
• Tara Music, a label featuring traditional Irish music
• Tara Perdida, a Portuguese punk rock band

Other

• Battle of Tara (disambiguation), a number of battles in Ireland
• Da' Tara, American thoroughbred racehorse
• Hurricane Tara (disambiguation), name of three tropical cyclones in the Eastern Pacific Ocean
• Kayf Tara, United Kingdom Thoroughbred racehorse
• tārā, Tahitian slang for 5 CFP francs
• Tara Brooch, an artifact from Ireland

See also

• Taras (disambiguation)

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