Brown Tara with Long-Life Vase

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Item Code:	TM50
Specifications:	Tibetan Thangka Painting
Dimensions	Size of Painted Surface 15.0" X 19.5" Size with Brocade 26.0" X 34.0"

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The name "Tara" is the most powerful mystical name and it refers to the pupil of the third eye of wisdom through which the Cosmic Mother visualizes the world-drama. In other words, Tara refers to the intuitive vision or darshana, that is, human beings may know the nature of the ultimate Truth or Reality through darshana which may be granted by the grace of Mother Tara. The term 'Tara' also refers to 'pilotship' of the ferry-boat of life. Mother Tara ferries across all her devoted children through the stormy ocean of mundane existence. Thus the name Tara means also One Who saves. It is said that Tara's compassion for living beings, her desire to save them from suffering is stronger than a mother's love for her children. As Manjushri is the Celestial Bodhisattva who represents the wisdom of all Buddhas and Avalokiteshvara is the one who represents all their compassion, Tara is the Bodhisattva who represents the miraculous activity of all the Buddhas of past, present, and future.

The cult of Tara was propagated by Dipankara Atisha in the Land of Snow. She became one of the most popular deities of Tibet after her two principal forms, White Tara and Green Tara, were assimilated to the two wives of the first great Tibetan king Sron-btsan-sagm-po. The Mahavairochana-sutra relates her name to "Tara" "pupil of the eye". The Manjushrimulakalpa calls her "the compassion of Avalokiteshvara." She is actually the active power of the compassionate look diffused over all the points of space to save suffering creatures. She is the force of compassion that saves (tarayati) the afflicted. Her manifold refractions are epiphanies of the serene strength of compassionate intuition.

There are twenty-one forms of Tara-the most popular and powerful are Green Tara and White Tara, as mentioned above also, however Brown Tara is also popular as she holds long-life vase, so bestows boon of boundless life. She is shown here seated in lalitasana on moon disk on a lotus flower. Her right leg is pendant on a smaller lotus with moon disk. Her left leg is folded into her lap. She is holding a long-life vase in her right hand, which is extended forward in the boon granting gesture, and in her left, stem of a blooming lotus with smaller lotuses and buds, symbolizing all the Buddhas of past, present, and future.

She has a sweet young face. Her hair is partly upswept in a knot with beautiful decoration on it and partly falls on her shoulders. She has three eyes and adorned with gold crown with jewels. Moreover the jewelry she is wearing includes exquisitely design earrings, necklaces with jewels, armlets, bracelets and anklets. Moreover, she is wearing a flowing scarf, dhoti with leggings made of multicolored bands of silk. There is a halo and aureole behind her head and aureole, respectively. The border of aureole is floral rendered in gold with gemstone. Moreover aureole is encircled with lotus flowers and leaves.

The peaceful offerings of five senses are depicted on a lotus that sprang up in a lake, in the bottom centre. The five offerings of sensory enjoyment represent the most beautiful objects which attract the five senses sight, sound, smell, taste and touch. These offerings invariably take the form of a mirror for sight, cymbals for sound, an incense-laden conch shell for smell, fruit for taste and a silk scarf for touch.

The landscape illustrates the five great elements earth, water, fire, air, and space. The element earth is represented by rock formation and mountains, water by lake and waterfall, fire by flame (here the motif of fire in the form of flame is depicted around aureole), air by cloud formation and space by sky. The extended brocade depicts Ashtamangala symbols, Dharma Chakra and Endless Knott. This rare painting of Tara is very much suitable for sadhana and practices.

Select Bibliography

Alice Getty, Gods of Northern Buddhism, Tokyo, 1962

Ben Meulenbeld, Buddhist Symbolism in Tibetan Thangka, Holland, 2001

Lokesh Chandra, Transcendental Art of Tibet, Delhi, 1996

Marylin M. Rhie & Robert A.F. Thurman, Worlds of Transformation: Tibetan Art of Wisdom and Compassion, New York, 1999

Robert Beer, The Encyclopedia of Tibetan Symbols and Motifs, Boston, 1999

This description is by Dr. Shailendra K. Verma, whose Doctorate thesis is on "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.

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