White Mahakala (The Deity of Wealth and Prosperity)

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His body is white. His face is wrathful and he has three eyes. He has six arms. His main right hand holds a wish- fulfilling jewel mounted on a jewel-tipped handle, in front of his chest. This emblem is held by deities associated particularly with wealth.

His upper right hand holds a chopper. This crescent-shaped chopper, corresponds in shape to the cavity of the skullcup and functions to make 'mincemeat' of the hearts, intestines, lungs, and life-veins of enemies hostile to the Dharma. A similar crescent-shaped hand cleaver is used in oriental cuisine to chop meat and dice vegetables.

His lower right arm holds a hand drum, damaru in Sanskrit (Tib. Da ma ru, rnga chung). According to the strict rules of Tibetan-Buddhist iconography, the damaru is held and played in the right hand, and its function is to summon or invoke all of the Buddhas, inspiring them with supreme joy. The damaru as held by wrathful and semi-wrathful Buddhist deities, is described as being fashioned from the joined skulls of a fifteen or sixteen-year old boy and girl. The left side of the double-skull damaru is drawn smaller to represent the pubescent girl's skull. The magical qualities possessed by these skulls symbolize the virginal ripening to fullness of the male and female bodhichitta essences.

His lower left arm holds a skull-cup with a vase in it filled with many jewels. The skull-cup (Skt. Kapala; Tib. Thod phur)- fashioned from the oval upper section of a human cranium, serves as a libation vessel for wrathful and protective Vajrayana deities. As a receptacle for sacrificial offerings presented to wrathful deities, the kapala parallels the precious tray or bowl containing auspicious substances like the jewels shown here in this painting.

The central right hand holds a vajra hook. As a hand held weapon, the vajra hook symbolizes the hooking of negativities or evil beings, and the pulling or driving of all beings out of samsara and towards liberation.

The uppermost left hand holds a trident. As a weapon the trident symbolizes the destruction of the three poisons of ignorance, desire and aggression within the three realms. The two prongs uniting in the flaming central prong also symbolize the unity of method and wisdom; the abandonment of the two extremes of samsara and nirvana; and the ultimate union of absolute and relative truth.

He is adorned with jewelled ornaments and wears a beautiful skirt made of many scarves with jewels hanging down on the skirt.

Under each of his foot is a prostrate deity with an elephant head. This is symbolic of Lord Ganesha, the Hindu Lord of obstacles, thus representing the overcoming of obstacles.

Even though stationary in his stance, a lively movement is imparted through the agitated postures of his arms and the "Art-Nouveau" curves of his floating scarves.

The White Mahakala is more unusual than the customary black form. He is especially popular in Mongolia as the main protector deity of Mongolia., given such distinction by the third Dalai Lama.

The teachings of the White Mahakala were brought to Tibet in the eleventh century by Khedrup Khyungpopa, who also brought the teachings of the Six-armed Black Mahakala.

Performing the White Mahakala ritual is supposed to bring endless wealth to the needy practitioner in such things as family, material goods, food, power, knowledge, and spirituality.

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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.