A thangka is a Buddhist religious painting. It is a complicated, composite three-dimensional object consisting of: a picture panel which is painted or embroidered, a textile mounting; and one or more of the following: a silk cover, leather corners, wooden dowels at the top and bottom and metal or wooden decorative knobs on the bottom dowel. Thangkas play an important role in Buddhist rituals by providing support during the process of visualization.

The Thangka Buddhist paintings signify the Buddha the Exalted One, who attained Enlightenment, so that it would be a role model for Buddhists to attain the Supreme Bliss of Nirvana, the deathlessness. With the passage of time Thangka paintings began to represent the Buddha in meditative posture, symbolizing perfection.

Thus the Thangka paintings were regarded by the Indian Buddhist as sacred as they symbolised an overview of Buddhism. The paintings illustrate the life and times of the Buddha. The indian Buddhists commission Thangkas as objects of daily worship and reverence.

Some of the Buddhist Thangkas are not just paintings but printed, embroidered as brocade or woven in to carpets for Buddhist altars, but are very rare. The Thangkas are prepared in numerous ways. The small-sized Thangkas are meant to be kept in homes in order to ward off evil and disease from the householders and to gift them with health, wealth and prosperity. Large Thangkas are used during religious festivals.

The Tibetan Lamas use Thangkas to educate the people on the principles of Buddhism. These can be easily seen in the Tibetan Buddhist Viharas in Buddha Gaya and the Viharas of the Lamas, who are incumbents of the shrine at Uruvela (Dungeswari), the mountain shrine, where Bodhisatva Siddartha Gautama (Gautama) engaged in six long years of self-mortification under various ascetics such as Kalama and Udaka Rama Putra along with his erstwhile fellow travellers in search of the ultimate truth.

The Buddha having organised his first 60 disciples, Arhants at Saranath, where he preached his first sermon, Dhamma Cakka Pavattana Sutta, enjoined his first group of disciples to wander about preaching the Dhamma for the good and welfare of the people and he himself proceeded to Uruvela, as a mark of gratitude to rehearse the Dhamma he had discovered.

When a Thangka is commissioned the patron has to make known to the painter the precise manner of the Buddha or the deities he wishes to be executed. For example his choice may be Sakyamuni in lotus posture in meditative pose, Golden Buddha as portrayed as ‘Jeevaka’ the Master of Medicine, Tree of Life, Wheel of birth and death (Kalchakra) Green Tara; Goddess Saraswati (Dolma); the Wheel of Life etc.

There is no originality in Thangka paintings, as they are considered sacred and the painters follow a set of styles as followed from time immemorial. Their creativity is only utilised to embellish the area of decorative parts such as borders and the landscape.

Originally Thangkas were a record and a guide-line for meditative experience. The viewer is instructed to sit before a painting and imagine that he is in the specific setting and the environment and contemplate that one with the picture, thus generating a high degree of contemplative one-pointedness of mind leading to spiritual equilibrium.

In this theme the Thangkas are circumstanced to convey iconographic information in a pictorial manner. These Thangkas are sometimes produced by medication masters. As these paintings are supposed to be influenced by god Visvakarma, they are not signed by the artist, but in exceptional cases some sign themselves.

Original Article by by Rohan L. Jayetilleke

Additional Sources:

Buddhist Iconography - Buddhanet
What is thangka - kagyunet

Tag: Thangka paintings