THANGKA PAINTING

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction………………………………………2
Global Presence…………………………………2
Geographical Region………………………….3
Practitioner Community…………………….3
Materials…………………………………………..4
Tools………………………………………………….6
Process………………………………………….…..7
Themes, Motifs and iconography…..…10
Products……………………………………….….16
Thangka Appliqué/ Dras-drub-ma…..…17
Innovations………………………….……………17
Challenges……………………………….….…..17
References………………………………….……19
Annexure- Artisan Profile Form………..20
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Documented by Saumya Rawat and Anwita Kapoor (IICD, Rajasthan) for

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Introduction

A Thangka is a Tibetan scroll-banner painting which is hung in a monastery or a family altar and
carried by lamas in ceremonial processions. Thangka is a unique art form that belongs to
Tibetan culture. In Tibetan the word 'than' means Flat and the suffix 'ka' stands for Painting.
The Thangka is thus a kind of painting done on flat surface but which can be rolled up when not
required for display. The most common shape of a Thangka is the upright rectangular form.

Thangka is a different art in terms of its connection t3o Buddhism. Its roots can be found in the
Buddhist scriptures. Thangkas are used by the Tibetan Practitioners to help them develop a
close relationship with a meditational deity. Thangkas assist the mediator in focusing and
clearly visualizing particular images.

The making of thangka involves many complicated processes and there are certain
prerequisites and stringent requirements to adhere to as it is viewed as a religious object for
religious purposes.

Global Presence

Tibetan Buddhist painting developed from the traditions of early Buddhist paintings, like
paintings in Ajanta Caves in India and the Mogao Caves at Dunhuang on the Silk Road, in Gansu
province, China, which have elaborate wall paintings. The Thangka form developed alongside
the tradition of Tibetan Buddhist wall paintings, which are or were mostly in monasteries. The
earliest survivals of Tibetan paintings on cloth are in some pieces from the Mogao Caves
at Dunhuang in China. Earlier Thangka forms of paintings were made in ancient scriptures and
manuscripts and textiles.

Over the following centuries Tibetan paintings, both on walls and Thangka, continued to
develop in its distinctive style, balancing between the two major influences of Indo-Nepalese
and Chinese painting. Styles vary considerably between the different regions of Tibet as well as
the wider region where Thangkas are painted. Within Tibet the regions nearer Nepal and China
are often more influenced by those styles. Bhutanese Thangka were mainly influenced by
Central Tibet. The different monastic orders also developed somewhat different stylistic
characters.

Thangkas were painted in all the areas where Tibetan Buddhism flourished, which
include Mongolia, Ladakh, Sikkim, and other parts of Himalayan India in Arunachal
Pradesh, Dharamsala, and Lahaul and Spiti district in Himachal Pradesh. It is also practiced in
parts of Russia (Kalmykia, Buryatia, and Tuva) and Northeast China.
Geographical region
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Thangka painting is being practiced in Ladakh, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh and in Lahaul and
Spiti, and Kangra districts of Himachal Pradesh in India. In Dharamshala, Thangka painting is
being practiced by Tibetans in exile.

Areas in Himachal Pradesh where

Thangka Painting is practiced

Practitioner Community

Thangka painting is practiced by artists who go through years of training and practice. The art
of Thangka Painting is not gender bound, anyone who is willing to dedicate themselves to
learning this art can practice thangka. Thangka earlier was seen as a meditation, a means of
communication between the artist and the deity.

The person who wants to learn the art of painting a thangka gets empowerment by the lamas,
and then under the guidance of the master thangka artist as his guru, learns and practices
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thangka for years. A thangka artist also needs to have a thorough knowledge of the Tibetan
Buddhist scriptures. Thangka has very strict and set rules which are written in the Buddhist
scriptures, thus a thorough knowing of the iconography and meanings stated in the scriptures is
a must.

A Thangka artist learns to sketch Buddhist symbols and figures of deities for initial few years.
The whole process of perfecting the art of Thangka takes years with the learning process itself
taking up to twelve years.

Thangkas are painted whole year round. Though being practiced indoors, the paintings require
dry atmosphere. Sunlight is only required during the preparation of canvas for its good and fast
drying. Therefore many a times several canvases are prepared in advance during good sunlight
and dry weather.

In Dharamshala, Thangka painting is practiced by the Tibetan community in exile. Dharamshala

is the centre of the Tibetan exile world in India. Following the 1959 Tibetan uprising there was
an influx of Tibetan refugees who followed the 14th Dalai Lama. Thus, Dharamshala has
communities of Tibetans, amongst whom a few try to preserve their culture and art by learning
and practicing them in institutes like Norbulingka Institute.

Materials

Varieties of tools and raw materials are used for making this traditional art.

1. Cotton cloth
2. Thread (for fastening the canvas to the frame)
3. Mineral colors-
Carbon Black (Tib: nagtsa): Black
Cinnabar (Tib: chog lama): vermillion color
Lapis Lazuli: Blue
Lac Red (Tib: gyatso)
Malachite Green (Tib: pangma): Green color
Minium Orange (Tib: litri): Orange color
Orpiment Yellow (Tib: ba la): Yellow color
Yellow and Red Ochre (Tib; ngang pa and tsag)
Gold (Tib: ser) - powdered gold, stored as drops
Silver (Tib: ngul dul) - Powdered silver, also stored as drops
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Mineral colors are brought in from different places within India as well as Nepal and Tibet.
Cold gold or Ser and Cold silver or ngul dul are brought from Nepal in form of small drops.

4. Leather Glue
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5. Distemper Powder

6. Silk Brocade cloth (for mounting the final painting, from Varanasi)

Tools
1. Wooden frame
2. Pencils
3. Compass
4. Scale
5. Brushes (of different sizes)

Wooden Frame Brushes used for painting

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Process

The process of making the painting involves three steps; preparation of the canvas, drawing and
coloring/painting.

Preparation of Canvas:

1. The canvas is stretched over a wooden frame and the sides are sewn to the frame with a cord
that allows tension to be adjusted.

2. Leather glue is heated in water till it melts.

3. This melted glue is mixed with distemper powder and water to form a liquid paste.
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4. This paste is applied properly on both sides of the canvas and let to dry in the sunlight.

5. The surface of the canvas is then polished with a smooth stone or rim of a glass tumbler, until
the underlying texture of the canvas is no longer apparent, i.e. the distemper and glue paste is
no longer on the surface and all the pores of the canvas are filled.

Drawing:

1. Using pencil, compass and a scale, geometric markings are made on the backside of the
canvas to define points for the drawing on the front side.

The artist uses a thread dipped in color to find the centre point of the canvas to start the
measurements.

The colored thread is stretched along the diagonals of the canvas and pinched which
forms a line of color on the canvas.
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Once the centre point of the canvas is located, a circle is drawn on

the centre, and arcs are cut on it to segment its circumference. The
points on which the arcs cut on the circumference are used to
divide the canvas into half and to mark points for the border.

2. It requires perfect skills in drawing, perfect figures and great understanding of the
econometric principles to make this paintings. Balanced grid of angles and intersecting lines are
used to portray arms, legs, eyes, nostrils, ears, and various ritual implements, thus for paintings
these geometrically balanced drawings are first made on different paper and through tracing
paper it is transferred to the prepared canvas.
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3. Once the initial sketch is over, the design is redrawn and details refined with ink.

Coloring/painting:

1. Mineral color powder is den mixed with glue binder to form a paste of required consistency.

2. The drawing is then colored. First the distant areas are colored like sky and background, and
then the main figure is colored.

Pictures showing background sky and ground being coloured first.

The completed painting is taken to only the tailors who mount the work on silk brocade to
complete the scroll painting of Tibetan Thangka.

Themes, Motifs and Iconography

Thangka painting follows old iconographic patterns that are defined in detail in old Tibetan
Buddhist scriptures. A Thangka is made according to strict rules of Tibetan Buddhist
iconography with rare attempts of modification in the figure drawing. Artistic freedom of a
Thangka artist is however limited to background landscape and slight color variations.

The main themes of a Thangka Paintings are:

Mandalas

A mandala Thangka follows a cosmic, geometric pattern of circles, geometric pattern of squares
and circles. The outer square form has four gates. These four doors symbolize the bringing
together of the four boundless thoughts namely - loving kindness, compassion, sympathy, and
equanimity. It is considered to represent the abode of the deity. At the center of the mandala
lies the deity, with whom the mandala is identified. It is the power of this deity that the
mandala is said to be invested with. The mandala is "a support for the meditating person".
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A mandala

Buddha’s Life

Thangkas depicting Buddha’s life are simple and present the story of Buddha Sakyamuni from
the time his mother saw a white elephant in her dream before conceiving him, to Buddha
attaining nirvana.

A thangka showing Buddha’s life

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Wheel of life

The Wheel of life or the wheel of existence or Bhavachakra is a frequently seen theme of
Tibetan Thangka. A dreadful monster or Yama holds a wheel in his claws. The wheel has a
number of small circles and is divided into 6 different realms.

Wheel of life

6 realms in Buddhism are:

-Heaven
-The realm of humanity
-The realm of angry gods (Asuras)
-The realm of hungry ghosts (Preta)
-Animal realm
-Hell

Buddhas and peaceful deities

Thangkas depicting images of forms of Buddha and other peaceful deities like Green and white
Tara, Manjushree, Alokiteshvara, etc.
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Avlokiteshwara

Wrathful Deities
Thangkas depicting wrathful deities like Mahakala, Yamantaka, and Vajrapani.

Yamantaka
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Sometimes different colored canvases are used to paint the thangkas. In these thangkas figures
are not colored much; the paintings are mostly outlines with not much color and often with
gold or silver highlights. A particular color canvas is associated with a particular deity.

White: normal colored paintings

Brown: Amitava Buddha
Blue: Medicine Buddha
Red: Guru Padmasambhava
Green: Green Tara
Reddish Brown: Manjushree

Different colored canvases. For coloring the canvases, powdered mineral pigments are mixed
with distemper and glue and applied on the canvas.
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1. Details of flower
2. Details of water waves
3. Details of clouds and fire flames

There are six styles in Thangka paintings and each style has its own significance:

• Minti style: More importance is given to the use of blue and green colors.
• Chanti style: Light colors or pastel colors are used more.
• Kamgatti style: Sketch based painting
• China getti style: Painting through cosmic design
• Gotti style: Floral designs are made without making the outline floral
• Khamtti style: Paintings are made using the place name as base

It depends on the artist that which style he practices, in which style the painting would be
made.
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A Thangka painting is never signed by the artist. The reason lies in the fact that an artist paints
a thangka not as his work of art but for the religious reasons. For an artist painting a thangka
for another person is a form of good karma. However once a thangka painting is finished, the
artist writes a mantra “OM AH HUM “vertically on the backside of the canvas.
The mantra is written right behind the body of the deity: OM being behind the forehead
AH at the throat
HUM at the chest

OM is the essence of form, AH the essence of sound and HUM the essence of mind. OM purifies
all perception; AH all sounds and HUM the mind, its thoughts and emotions.

Products

Thangka scrolls still remain the most popular product being made with this technique. However
there are a few variations available in the market like painted furniture. One can find wall
paintings in Buddhist temples, which are closely associated with the art thangka painting since
time immemorial.

As mentioned earlier, thangka paintings are done with strict set of rules which are predefined,
thus there is a very less scope of experimentation and innovation. One aspect which
differentiates thangka from other crafts and art practices is that thangkas were not for
aesthetic or daily utilitarian purposes, thangkas instead are an aid for meditation or a symbol of
good karma. This is why a large amount of thangkas being made are still commissioned. In past,
commissioning of thangka would build a spiritual relation between the person who has
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commissioned a thangka, the artist, the lama (under whose guidance the artist works) and the
deity.

The contents of the thangka are according to the customers’ demand. One small but quite
notable change that has occurred is that a few thangka paintings now are not being mounted
on the silk brocade cloth, instead are framed with wood and glass. Such thangkas are for
commercial purposes.

Thangka Appliqué or Dras-drub-ma

Another kind of Thangka is in the form of appliqué work. Appliqué thangka is a scroll-like
installation on which Buddhist imagery is constructed by stitching colored pieces of fabric onto
a base cloth. Various parts of the image are produced separately by cutting and sealing their
ends and then are finally attached onto a single cloth to form a whole figure. The parts maybe
overlapped and arranged so there is an addition of a different degree of dimension in the
thangka. The details are made on these cloth pieces by embroidery which gives the whole
image a definition. The threads for embroidery are made with a hair of horse’s tail coiled with
silk thread.

Innovations

Innovations and changes in thangka painting have been made only in terms of tools and
materials and otherwise the practice and process is same as it was years back. Along with
pigment colors, acrylic colors and poster colors are also used. With the help of blow dryers and
room heaters, ideal situations are created during unlikely weather for paintings to be painted
efficiently. This helps the artist to paint thangkas all year round.

Challenges

Thangka paintings have admirers all over the world, be it for its aesthetic beauty or for spiritual
purposes. A lot of thangkas are being commissioned from all over the world, and several are
bought through various online portals which sell authentic paintings. Because thangka
paintings have large amount of admirers, there are printed versions of thangkas available in the
market which are bought by people all over the world. These thangkas lack authenticity. Also a
lot people are aware about the existence of the art but not well aware about its making process
like many other arts and crafts. Thus, the tremendous effort going into making of thangkas get
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unnoticed. Thangkas are not being portrayed as a commercial art, and that is where its beauty
lies in, the relationship between a thangka and its painter is deep and spiritual. The story of
thangka paintings need to be told and thus, awareness is the important challenge that thangka
art is facing.
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References

Baral, Bibhudutta. "Design Resource - Thangka Painting - Bylakuppe - Tools and Raw Materials."
Design Resource - Thangka Painting - Bylakuppe - Tools and Raw Materials. N.p., n.d. Web. 20
June 2015. <http://www.dsource.in/resource/thangka-painting/tools/index.html>.

"The Buddhist Universe." BBC News. BBC, 23 Nov. 2009. Web. 19 June 2015.
<http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/buddhism/beliefs/universe_1.shtml>.

"The Buddhist Mandala - Sacred Geometry and Art." The Buddhist Mandala - Sacred Geometry
and Art. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 June 2015.
<http://www.kheper.net/topics/Buddhism/mandala.html>.

Wanczura, Dieter. "Traditional Tibetan Rugs - Artelino." Thangka Classification. N.p., June 2010.
Web. 22 June 2015. <http://www.artelino.eu/en/articles/thangkas/154-thangka-
classification.html>.

"Bhutan Buddhism." : Om Ah Hum Explained. N.p., 31 Oct. 2009. Web. 19 June 2015.
<http://bhutanbuddhism.blogspot.in/2009/10/om-ah-hum-explained.html>.

'Norbulingka thangka's Norbulingka Institute - Tibetan Thangka Paintings from the Tibetan
Government's Institute under the Chairmanship of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
< http://www.norbulingka.org>
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Annexure

ARTISAN PROFILE FORM

Name of Contact Person met:

Name of the Artisan Youten Dorjee

Address Norbulingka Institute
PO Sidhpur
Dharamshala, Dist. Kangra
Himachal Pradesh
Mobile No/ Phone No +918679173443
Profile of the artisan  Master Artisan Individual Artisan
DCH Artisan Card no
Has the Artisan won any No
award? Please mention
1. Thangka Painting and Mandala Drawing
2.
Crafts practiced by the artisan 3.
4.
Since when is the artisan Since 1995 till now (20 years)
practicing the craft (or for how
many years)
Number of Production Units
(e.g.: no of workshops/ no of
looms, etc)
Region of Work Sidhpur, Dharamshala
Number of artisans / craft Full-time Part-time
workers engaged
Male
Female
Are family members involved  Yes No
in the craft?
Yes, Relative- Aunt
Monthly:
Estimate of Sales
Annually:
1.
2.
Products produced 3.
4.
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5.
6.
7.
Production capacity(e.g: no of
pieces/ products produced in a
month, no of people engaged
in producing a piece/ product)

1. Difficulty in Raw material procurement

2. High production cost
3. Frequent inability to meet orders
What are the production 4. Rejection of Orders. Provide reason:
related challenges they face
5. Inability to meet quality standards/ quality issues
6. Others:

1.Exhibitions
2.Retail Stores:
3.Wholesale buyers:
Major marketing channels
4.Online Online Store of the institute
5.Export:
6.Others: Paintings are commissioned
1. Threat from machine made goods

What are the challenges that 2. Lack of information on exhibitions

they face in selling their
products 3. No link to buyers
4. Any other?
What are their needs?(e.g: skill,
design, market, working
capital, organization
development, etc)
Does the craftmark Yes No
programme sound interesting
to them?
Any suggestions by the artisan?

Name of Data Collector: Saumya Rawat Date: 05.06.2015

Phone no: +918384994071
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