Celebrating Buddha's Sambodhi

This black thangka portrays the mandala of Shakyamuni Buddha. The whole mandala is painted in silver. The Buddha is seated in adamantine posture on a lotus throne in the center. His right hand is in earth-touching gesture and the left hand is in meditation position which is holding an alms bowl. The gesture of earth-touching symbolizes the event of sambodhi of Shakyamuni Buddha at Bodhgaya.

The Buddha has an oval face, urna or circle between the eyebrows, long earlobes, ushnisha on the top of the head, and a jewel on the top of the head and so on. His half closed meditative eyes, smiling face convey his love and compassion for all suffering beings. His robes cover both of his shoulders with bare breast. There is a halo and mandorla, behind his head and body respectively.

The area outside the circle is plain and painted in silver colour, while the walls of the square are decorated with stylized designs. There are four gateways in the square and over the gates are houses in which auspicious offerings have been shown. The area outside the square is filled with the images of stylized clouds and flowers. The square is surrounded with two circles. The outer circle is fire fence which protects the inner residence from evil spirits. The inner circle is of auspicious lotus petals. Here the spiritual realm begins and one enters the mandala.

The upper center is rendered with the figure of Shadakshari Lokeshvara, Bodhisattva of compassion and the embodiment of the syllable mantra om mani padme hum. The upper left corner portrays the figure of Manjushri, the Bodhisattva of transcendent wisdom, who is holding a wisdom sword and a lotus flower in his hands, respectively. The upper right corner is filled with the figure of Green Tara, a saviouress goddess who helps suffering beings to cross the ocean of existence. She made a vow to conquer evil. She is seated in latitasana on a lotus throne in clouds, her right hand is in vara-mudra, and her left hand is in the gesture of protection and holding the stem of a lotus flower. She is adorned with a crown, ornaments of a Bodhisattva, flowing scarf and dhoti. Bottom left corner is filled with the figure of White Tara, goddess of long life. She is seated in vajraparyankasana on a lotus throne. Her right hand is in vara-mudra, while the left hand is in blessing gesture and also holding the stem of a lotus flower. Wrathful Vajrapani is depicted at the bottom right corner. The composition is fine and the silver colour is dominating in the painting.

Select Bibliography

A. Getty, The Gods of Northern Buddhism, Tokyo, 1962

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

Lokesh Chandra, Transcendental Art of Tibet, Delhi, 1996

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

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

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.)".

Click Here to View the Thangka Painting along with its Brocade

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