Shakyamuni on The Throne of Enlightenment, Surrounded by The Dhyani Buddhas

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Beyond the pain and pressures, the toil and tears of life, away from illusory scene of transience and impermanence, transcending loving and halting transitoriness of this world, is the Enlightened One, Shakyamuni, the Sage of the Shakyas, Gautama the Buddha. He has overcome the temptations of Mara and of his demons in their innumerable aspects, some terrifying, some monstrous and some voluptuous. The intense inner struggle of Gautama makes him an immediately human figure to us. Mara tries to break him even when he has attained complete enlightenment and tempts him to vanish into nirvana and leave mankind in darkness.

The Buddha is serene and motionless. He has passed the raging fury of illusory forms. The Sage is supremely Enlightened One, aware of the cause of suffering and of the way to attain liberation from them. He calls the Earth Goddess to witness by his earth-touching gesture or bhumi-sparsha-mudra. The right hand stretches down to the earth, the palm inside and all fingers straight. By this gesture, he destroys all the demons of the earth. While the right hand of the Buddha is in the gesture of touching the earth, his left hand holds the alms bowl. He is seated with legs crossed in the lotus position or padmasana, on a moon disk, placed on a lotus.

Sometimes his throne is supported by lions, which indicate that Shakyamuni or Sage of the Shakyas is as well Shakyasimha or Lion of the Shakyas. The depiction of six paramitas by six animals around the aureole of Shakyamuni indicate that he has perfected the six transcendences. These six paramitas are represented by six animals: the Garuda at the top is the first paramita of charity. Two young nagas stand for moral excellence. The two makara are symbols of forbearance. The two vaman/dwarfs represent endurance. The two elephants stand for meditation. The two lions are the highest perfection of wisdom.

The Enlightenment One says, as mentioned in Bodhicharyavatara, that all is to be vanquished by me, but no one can vanquish me. In this way I shall remain self-confident. To overcome poisonous delusions is the first of enlightenment. The Buddha as Jina, the true conqueror, defeats the fearsome enemies of attachment, anger, pride, ignorance, a veritable lion eliminative the foxes of disturbances and distractions.

The Buddha is here surrounded with Dhyani Buddhas who are depicted on lotus throne. There are radiant aureoles with the streams of rainbow lights behind them. The Buddha Ratnasambhava is depicted in upper left corner, while Vairochana Buddha in the right, respectively. The Buddha Amoghasiddhi is seated in lower left corner, while the Buddha Akshobhya is in the right. The Buddha Vairochana is depicted twice. His second figure has appeared below the throne of Shakyamuni. Here is flanked by two attendant deities. The present painting is very much impressive and powerful, as it depicts the figure of Shakyamuni on the throne of enlightenment and the figures of Dhyani-Buddhas, so it is very much suitable for sadhana and meditation to perceive wisdom and compassion, and spiritual attainments etc.

Select Bibliography

A. Getty, The Gods of Northern Buddhism, Tokyo, 1961.

A. K. Coomaraswmy,History of Indian and Indonesian Art, Delhi, 1972

D. Mitra, Buddhist Monuments, Calcutta, 1971

D. L. Snellgrove (Ed.), Image of the Buddha, Delhi, 1979

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

K. K. Mittal & A Agrawal (Ed.), Buddhist Art and Thought, Delhi, 1993

Marylin M. Rhie & Robert A.F. Thurman, Wisdom and Compassion: The Sacred Art of Tibet, New York, 1996

P. Pal, Art of the Himalayas: Treasures from Nepal and Tibet, New York, 1991

P. V. Bapat (Ed.), 2500 Years of Buddhism, Delhi, 1956

This description by Dr. Shailendra K. Verma, his Ph.D. thesis being "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.

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.

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.

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.

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.