Guru Padmasambhava Father-Mother Surrounded with Twenty-five Chief Disciples

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Padmasambhava is holding a vajra in his right hand, while his left hand is embracing his consort and holding a skull cup with a small nectar vase. He wears heavy multi-color beautiful monastic robes, a scholar's hat with half vajra and a peacock feather on the top. The sun and moon on his hat symbolizes Guru's cosmic omnipotence as well as his perpetual alertness day and bight. The consort of Padmasambhava is represented with one, two arms and two legs. Her both the legs are wrapped around his waist. Her left hand is holding a skull cup, while her right is behind his neck. She is adorned with beautiful ornaments, scarves and skirt. Adi-Buddha Vajradhara is seated just above the halo of Padmasambhava in a rainbow circle in clouds.

There is a semicircle above the ornate aureole of the Guru, depicting eight semi-fierce deities in union with female counterpart. Each deity is in five colors, depicted inside in a rainbow circle. These figures are identical in the case of attributes and posture. All the deities are supposed to be one of the forms of the Guru Padmasambhava. The male deities are holding drum in their right hand and vajra-bell in the left hand, while their consorts hold skull cup in the left hand, and the right hands are behind the neck of their consorts.

The middle ground, foreground and upper corners are filled with figures the famous twenty-five chief disciples of Padmasambhava. Though it is difficult to identify all of them by name as their names are not written, however Gyalwa chogyang also known as the green Hayagriva as the horse-head emerging from his own head, can easily be identify who is seated on the right of Padmasambhava. Among the flying lamas are perhaps Namkay and Jnankumara. The bottom center depicts the Tibetan king Trisong Detsen. The twenty-five major disciples of Padmasambhava were:

1. King Trisong Detsen himself ;

2. Queen Yeshe Tsigyal;

The translator:

3. Vairochana;

The monks:

4. Gyalwa Chogyang;

5. Namkay Nyingpo;

6. Yeshe Shonu;

7. Yeshe Yang;

8. Yeshe De;

9. Tsemang;

10.Kawa Peltsek;

11. Gyalwa Lodro;

12. Drog Kichung;

13.Tenpa Namka;

14. Ma Rinchenchok;

15. Queen Yeshe Tsogyal's brother Pelgyi Dorje;

16. Gyalwa Jangchub;

The Laymen:

17. Nubchen Sangyey Yeshe;

18. Drog Pelgyi Yeshe;

19. Lang Pelgyi Sengey;

20. Dorje Dunjom;

21. Sogpo Hapal (a Mongolian);

22. Pelgyi Wangchuk;

23. Pelgyi Sengey;

24. Another Pelgyi Wangchuk;

25. Konchok Jungnay (the minister);

On the top center Adi-Buddha Samantabhadra Father-Mother are depicted in clouds with rainbow streams in the back.

The painting is very much important and valuable as it contains the figures of Twenty-five chief disciples of Guru Padmasambhava. It is also very much suitable for esoteric sadhana and practices. These types of paintings are scarcely found in the Art mart.

Select Bibliography

A. Getty, The Gods of Northern Buddhism, Tokyo, 1962

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

L.A. Waddell, Buddhism & Lamaism of Tibet, 1895, Delhi, 1979 (reprint)

Marylin M. Rhie & Robert A.F. Thurman, Wisdom and Compassion: The Sacred Art of Tibet New York, 1997

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