Boudha Stupa Thanka Centre Hand-Painted Life of Shakyamuni Buddha Thangka, Raj Kumar 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.

The subject of this piece is the life of Shakyamuni Buddha, that is, the Twelve Great Deeds of the Buddha’s life. The central figure sits in the full lotus posture, the right hand in the earth-touching mudra and the left holding an alms bowl, seated on a lotus throne borne by white elephants and snow lions. Above the halo, the arch is decorated with the garuda and the makara, and before the throne stand the two great disciples Shariputra and Maudgalyayana.

Around the central figure, linked scenes fill the whole painting: among palaces, monasteries, stupas, mountains and rivers and auspicious clouds are woven the birth, the renunciation, the austerities, the defeat of Mara, the first turning of the wheel of Dharma, the teachings and the parinirvana. The figures number in the hundreds, and the architecture and garments are all delineated with a fine brush. The work is keyed to grass green and deep blue, picked out in gold line; the border is further painted with dragon motifs and auspicious-knot brocade patterns, finished with a burgundy fabric edging. Life-of-the-Buddha subjects are complex in composition and take a very long time to execute, ranking among the more difficult of thangka subjects. Signed by the painter Raj Kumar Lama.

Size approx.: 36.5 x 29 cm