| When visiting Tibet you can't fail to notice the beautiful | | | | gifts to monasteries. They would portray the deities to |
| Thangka paintings that hang from monasteries and | | | | whom a plea for something would be made. But the |
| home altars across the region. These paintings are full | | | | largest group of Thangkas were used for meditation |
| of information about Buddhism and the Tibetan | | | | and date back to the yoga-tantric practices. |
| worldview and they unite the opposing passions of | | | | The popularity of embroidered Thangkas grew |
| religion and analysis in their geometric and | | | | throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and |
| rule-governed depictions. In them, icons and characters | | | | spread throughout the entire Tibetan Buddhist region, |
| out of Buddhist lore float against brilliantly coloured | | | | with examples being made in Mongolia, Bhutan, and |
| backgrounds filled with complex Buddhist symbols, | | | | Ladakh, as well. The Thangkas then broke away from |
| swirling landscapes and geometric patterns. In some | | | | their original functions and were used in temples, home |
| you can see the teenage bodhisattva Manjushri | | | | altars and processions. Most monasteries had their |
| swinging a flaming sword, symbolically slicing away the | | | | own sewing workshops where special pieces were |
| artificial dualities of thought. Others depict the Tibetan | | | | created to display at festivals. Thangkas made from |
| Wheel of Life, (Bhavacakra) a representation of the | | | | pieced silk were used in very large pieces, as they |
| endless process of birth, suffering, death and rebirth | | | | could be rolled out on hillsides or down the sides of |
| that unenlightened beings endure - a cycle known as | | | | palaces and monasteries. |
| Samsara. | | | | Great skill and care is needed at every stage in the |
| The name Thankgas comes from the Tibetan word | | | | creation of a Thangka painting and it takes around ten |
| 'thang' meaning flat and implies how the paintings were | | | | years to become accomplished in the craft. Students |
| created on a flat surface. They come in two forms: | | | | will spend their first three years of training learning to |
| goku (cloth images), which are water colours painted | | | | sketch the deities. Two more years are then devoted |
| on canvas, and the gochen thangka (precious-cloth | | | | to the techniques of grinding and applying mineral |
| scroll images), which are woven in silk, embroidered or | | | | colours and pure gold and in the sixth year, they study |
| sewn together. | | | | the religious texts and scriptures used for their work. |
| The painting first emerged around the times of the | | | | Even then they still need another five to ten years to |
| death of the Buddha Sakyamuni (563-483 BC), who is | | | | become experts in the field. |
| thought to have founded Zen-Buddhism. When the | | | | The youngest apprentices will begin the making of a |
| religion spread throughout the Himalayan region in the | | | | Thangka by applying a special treatment to the cotton |
| seventh century it fragmented into different orders and | | | | canvas base. After drying the canvas, the outline |
| allowed Nepalese, Chinese and Kashmiri styles to | | | | drawing is applied. Here an intricate knowledge of |
| influence the paintings development. The earliest | | | | Buddhist philosophy and mathematical proportions is |
| known use of stitchery to create Thangkas dates | | | | needed. Thangka painting is not considered a creative |
| from the thirteenth century when images were woven | | | | art, so you won't find any with signatures of the painter |
| and embroidered in China and given as gifts to Tibetan | | | | on. They are iconographic works, so all the images are |
| rulers or ommissioned by them. These pieces | | | | based on repeating patterns and the artistic freedom |
| combined Tibetan artistic style with Chinese textile | | | | of the painter is limited to colour combinations. The |
| techniques. By the fifteenth century, the first fabric | | | | templates either come from copies from the past, |
| Thangkas were made in Tibet itself using local | | | | from books or were drawn by the master based on |
| "appliqué" techniques usually used to make | | | | old iconographic patterns. |
| nomad and festival tents, ritual dance costumes, and | | | | Next backgrounds like the sky or the earth are applied. |
| altar decorations. | | | | Here, students learn how to grind local stones into lively |
| Thangkas then had three different functions; firstly | | | | reds, deep blues, and electric orange paints. Then |
| wandering monks carried them to help instil religion and | | | | shimmering gold patterns are applied using gold leaf |
| historical teachings in rural populations. They would | | | | which is pressed into powder. Finally the faces of the |
| depict high ranking Buddhist figures and scenes from | | | | deities are added by the master. Only when this is |
| their lives, the wheel of life, or the Buddha himself. | | | | done does the Thangka receive its 'life'. |
| Thangkas were also used for consecration and as | | | | |