What is the Purpose of a Thangka?
The Thangkas developed their ethnic characteristics and features from the early Buddhist paintings which were mostly done on the walls of temples and monasteries. Many of the murals had Tibetan inscriptions and incorporated many elements from Han Chinese paintings and some elements reflecting Indian styles. These emphasized more on the landscape background. Some traditional Buddhist paintings survive even today in a few sites such as the Ajanta Caves in India and the Mogao Caves in China. It is from this time that Thangka paintings were developed from the tradition of Tibetan Buddhist wall paintings.
Published in Nov 2022