Gautama Buddha and Scenes from Principal Events of His Life

$125
Item Code: TK64
Specifications:
Tibetan Thangka Painting
Dimensions Size of Painted Surface 11.5" X 15.0"
Size with Brocade 23.5" X 27.5"
Handmade
Handmade
Free delivery
Free delivery
Fully insured
Fully insured
100% Made in India
100% Made in India
Fair trade
Fair trade
The image of Gautama Buddha is drawn in the center of this handsome thangka. The Buddha is seated in earth-touching gesture on the six-ornament throne of enlightenment. Flanking the Buddha are his two chief disciples Sariputra and Maudgalyayana. He is surrounded with the scenes of his life. The painting is slightly crowded.

The upper left corner depicts scene of Mahamaya's dream. Mahamaya or Mayadevi is shown here sleeping in her palace and a white elephant is approaching her in dream. The elephant is shown in a cloud. Below this is the scene of Buddha's birth. It is said that when the future mother felt time was approaching she left for her parent's home. When she reaching the park of Lumbini, her son was born from her right side as she held the branch of the shala tree. The newborn baby walked seven steps two wards each point of the compass, exclaiming: "this is my last incarnation". Below this scene is entitled – Suddhodana (Father of Siddhartha) counsels Siddhartha. When he came of age and assumed royal duties, Gautama became a true man of the world. In the scene he is shown in court and consulting his experienced father in the skilful conduct of material affairs. Thereafter two events of his life are depicted below this scene – the first is Buddha's encounter with Death. It is said that once Siddhartha had a strong desire to see other places and asked his charioteer to drive him outside the palace. On three trips through the gates he encountered with world of sufferings for the first time in the form of an old man, a sick man, a corpse and mendicant. When he saw a dead person carried away, his charioteer told him that death waits all of us, and that after rebirth most people return to another similar miserable life. Here Siddhartha is shown watching a corpse. The second scene depicts Siddhartha's mastery in athletics. As the son of the king Siddhartha received the first education and mastered of all lesson taught to him. He excelled in sports and other contests of skill. The most significant episode of his youth occurred during the contest for winning the hand of princess Gopa. An elephant was place inside the city gate to test who was strongest. Devadatta killed the animal with one hand. Siddhartha, seeing the mindless killing, pick up the animal lightly and tossed it over the city wall, where it came to life again. At the tournament, the crown price excelled in everything, including horse riding, and archery. Siddhartha was chosen as the groom.

The top center depicts and small image of Adi-Buddha Samantabhadra Father-Mother in cloud and below this is the scene of Buddha's promise to manifest Himself on the Earth. Before the Buddha was born into this world as Gautama Buddha or Shakyamuni Buddha, he was a Bodhisattva in the Tushita heaven, and his name there was shvetaketu. He vowed to manifest himself in the sentient world and relieve people from their sufferings. Here Buddha is shown making this vow surrounded by other celestial beings, holding a lotus flower in his right hand, symbolizing the purity of his intention.

Upper right corner depicts the scene of the Buddha's Descent at Sankashya from Tushita heaven. It is said that Buddha had made a journey to Tushita heaven to preach Abhidharma to his mother Mahamaya. In the present painting Buddha is shown descended from the heaven through the help of a ladder. Thereafter a preaching Buddha is shown under a tree and below this is the scene of renunciation. According to tradition after four encounters with world miseries and asceticism, Siddhartha made the decision to leave the worldly life to seek the causes of suffering and he secretly left the palace in the middle of the night, leaving his sleeping wife and son. Far outside, the city, the prince said farewell to his horse and charioteer. Sitting in front of a stupa he cut off his long hair, removed his jewelry and expensive clothing, and wrapped himself in a simple monk's robe. The scene is depicted below the scene of renunciation.

The scene of Mahaparinirvana is depicted at the lower right corner. Traveling great distances to disseminate his teachings, Buddha finally reached the city of Kushinagar, where he asked his disciples to spread a couch for him in a grove. He lay there, reclining on his right side, facing west, with his head supported by his hand. He realized clearly that death was approaching. Toward midnight of the same day, the event known in Buddhist terminology as the Mahaparinirvana or 'Final Nirvana', took place. It was a full-moon night and his eightieth birthday.

The bottom center depicts the scene of Buddha's asceticism. Wandering in search of knowledge and truth, Siddhartha came to a pleasant hermitage where, for six years, he joined five mendicants in a way of disciples based on progressively severe fasting. He ate a single grain of rice for each of the first two years, drank a single drop of water for each of the second two years, and took nothing at all during the last two years. After six years, although he was emaciated, but he was not a step closer to the hoped for understanding convinced that this extreme method did not result in ultimate understanding, he decided on another approach and started eating again and went on by himself, under reproach from his fellow mendicants, and found a quiet place where he hoped to meditate in silence. He stopped in Bodhgaya and sat down under a large papal tree. During his seven weeks of pondering and meditating, Mara tried to prevent Siddhartha from coming to the ultimate understanding. He sent his armies, but all their weapons and fired arrows transformed into flowers. But all through the tribulations, Siddhartha sat calm and unflinching, and Mara had to withdraw and thus was cleared the final hurdle on the way to Buddha's enlightenment.

Select Bibliography

Ben Meulenbeld, Buddhist Symbolism in Tibetan Thangka, Holland, 2001

"The Life of Buddha and the Art of Narration in Buddhist Thangka", Exotic India, News Letter, March, 2004

P.V. Bapat, 25,00 Years of Buddhism, Delhi, 1956

H. Kern, Manual of Indian Buddhism, Delhi, 1968

Marylin M. Rhie & Robert A.F. Thurman, Worlds of Transformation: Tibetan Art of Wisdom and Compassion, New York, 1999

This description is by Dr. Shailendra K. Verma, whose Doctorate thesis is on "Emergence and Evolution of the Buddha Image (From its inception to 8th century A.D.)".

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Unveiling the Divine Art: Journey into the Making of Thangkas

A Thangka is a traditional Tibetan Buddhist painting that usually depicts a Buddhist Deity (Buddha or Bodhisattva), a scene, or a mandala. These paintings are considered important paraphernalia in Buddhist rituals. They are used to teach the life of the Buddha, various lamas, and Bodhisattvas to the monastic students, and are also useful in visualizing the deity while meditating. One of the most important subjects of thangkas is the Bhavacakra (the wheel of life) which depicts the Art of Enlightenment. It is believed that Thangka paintings were developed over the centuries from the murals, of which only a few can be seen in the Ajanta caves in India and the Mogao caves in Gansu Province, Tibet. Thangkas are painted on cotton or silk applique and are usually small in size. The artist of these paintings is highly trained and has a proper understanding of Buddhist philosophy, knowledge, and background to create a realistic and bona fide painting.
The process of making a thangka begins with stitching a loosely woven cotton fabric onto a wooden frame. Traditionally, the canvas was prepared by coating it with gesso, chalk, and base pigment.
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After this, the outline of the form of the deity is sketched with a pencil or charcoal onto the canvas using iconographic grids. The drawing process is followed in accordance with strict guidelines laid out in Buddhist scriptures. The systematic grid helps the artist to make a geometrical and professional painting. When the drawing of the figures is finalized and adjusted, it is then outlined with black ink.
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Earlier, a special paint of different colors was made by mixing powdered forms of organic (vegetable) and mineral pigments in a water-soluble adhesive. Nowadays, artists use acrylic paints instead. The colors are now applied to the sketch using the wet and dry brush techniques. One of the characteristic features of a thangka is the use of vibrant colors such as red, blue, black, green, yellow, etc.
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In the final step, pure gold is coated over some parts of the thangka to increase its beauty. Due to this beautification, thangkas are much more expensive and also stand out from other ordinary paintings.
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Thangka paintings are generally kept unrolled when not on display on the wall. They also come with a frame, a silken cover in front, and a textile backing to protect the painting from getting damaged. Because Thangkas are delicate in nature, they are recommended to be kept in places with no excess moisture and where there is not much exposure to sunlight. This makes them last a long time without their colors fading away. Painting a thangka is an elaborate and complex process and requires excellent skills. A skilled artist can take up to 6 months to complete a detailed thangka painting. In earlier times, thangka painters were lamas that spent many years on Buddhist studies before they painted.
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