Tara
The Wise Vanara Queen
Vali's brilliant queen, famed as one of the wisest voices in the Ramayana. She is honored among the Panchakanya, the five great women remembered every morning.
- Sanskrit/Telugu name: తార
- Also known as: Queen of Kishkindha
- Symbols: Star, Counsel
Story
Tara, whose name means "star," was the queen of Kishkindha and, in many tellings, one of the treasures who rose from the churning of the cosmic ocean. She was married to the mighty Vali, and she was easily the sharpest mind in the vanara kingdom. On the fatal day, when Sugriva returned to challenge Vali a second time, Tara begged her husband not to go - she reasoned that Sugriva would never return so boldly unless he had a powerful new ally, and word was that ally was Rama himself. Vali ignored her, and her fears came true. Tara's grief over her fallen husband moved even Rama, but what happened next shows her greatness: when a furious, grieving Lakshmana later stormed into Kishkindha because Sugriva had forgotten his promise, it was Tara who came forward and calmed the prince with words so wise and gracious that his anger melted away. She then guided Sugriva as his queen and kept the kingdom steady, and her son Angada became one of Rama's finest warriors. Like Mandodari, Tara is honored as one of the Panchakanya - five women whose names bless anyone who remembers them at dawn.
Fun fact
Tara talked down an enraged Lakshmana when no vanara warrior dared face him - diplomacy so famous that she's remembered as one of the five Panchakanya.