Boudha Stupa Thanka Centre Hand-Painted Amitabha Buddha Thangka, Chhewang Lama

A thangka is a Tibetan Buddhist scroll painting, hand-painted in mineral pigments on a cotton ground and sewn with a fabric border all round so that it can be rolled up and carried. It serves both as an object of devotion and as a support for visualisation practice.

This is a single-figure Amitabha Buddha thangka. The central figure is deep red, with the ushnisha crowning the head and both hands in the meditation mudra holding an alms bowl filled with nectar; he wears an ochre-red monastic robe (kasaya) whose folds are covered with brocade patterns drawn in gold line. A green head halo is set against a deep blue body halo, and the golden arch around them is decorated with makara and scrolling foliage. Below the lotus throne are blue-green mountains, flowing water and auspicious clouds, and in the foreground are offerings of the wish-fulfilling jewel, gold coins, fresh fruit and a white conch, symbolising completeness and good fortune. The composition is symmetrical throughout, the colouring bright and the line work clean — the fine, detailed style at which Nepalese painters excel; the orange fabric border is the mounting commonly used locally. Signed by the painter Chhewang Lama.

Size approx.: 40.5 x 31 cm