The Mad Princess who became Mahasiddha Laksminkara

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There is a well-known group of eighty-four Mahasiddhas, who flourished in India from the eighth to twelfth centuries. Basically, the lives of these eighty-four Indian men and women abound in episodes that demonstrate their conviction to perform any act contrary to convention.

The life story of Mahasiddha Laksminkara describes the kind of journey that is often required of those who seek ultimate truths.She was born into a royal family and had been delicately brought up in luxurious surroundings. She showed a grasp and understanding of tantric concepts even at an early age. All in all it was an idyllic life until she was betrothed to the king of Lanka (Ceylon) as part of a deeper political alliance.

She travelled to Ceylon with a large dowry. Due to a delayed departure, the wedding party arrived only some days after it was expected. The court astrologers present at the city gate informed them that it was an inauspicious day and that the bride and her retinue must wait until the following day before entering the city.

Already apprehensive, Laksminkara felt into a depression. Suddenly, she observed in the distance a great clamour, and presently a hunting came into view. At the head rode a stern faced man in royal clothes soiled by a bloody carcass, the trophy of the game, which he had carelessly tossed across his shoulders. He was her future husband.

The princess despaired when she witnessed this inhuman treatment of animals. Being a thoughtful Buddhist she reached a new resolve at that very moment. She had all the chests and trunks carrying her dowry opened on the spot and began to distribute it amongst the crowd which had gathered there. Everything was given away. Even the jewelry was bestowed on her attendants before they were sent back.

The next day, when she was finally invited into the palace, she locked herself into a chamber and refused to see anyone, discouraging visitors by throwing things at them. The princess then proceeded to unbound her hair, tore off her clothes and rubbed ashes on her body. She talked incoherently in a prattle, and to all appearances, she was hopelessly insane. Her erratic behaviour led to the wedding being cancelled, which was exactly she what she had hoped would happen.

One night, she crept out of the palace and fled to a cremation ground, renouncing the world to become a yogini, living by scavenging the food thrown out for dogs. She lived so for seven years until she attained siddhi. A sweeper of the royal latrines served her faithfully during this period. When she gained her realization, he was the first person to be initiated.

Laksminkara's story dramatizes the lengths to which a mystic must sometimes go in order to severe the attachments that prevent full immersion into the Highest, egoless state. When she came out of seclusion she attracted a large circle of disciples some of whom subsequently became quite famous. Her former fiancé too converted to Buddhism and asked her to be his guru, but she assigned him to the low-caste sweeper who had been her first disciple.

The artwork very aptly brings alive in her vigorous and contorted movement her feigned madness. Balancing her right leg on a blooming lotus, she lifts the left up high. The upraised right arm brandishes a chopper while the lowered left holds up a skull-cup. Unstitched silk scarves flair around her, but do not conceal any of her feminine charms from the viewers' gaze. A skirt made of human bones, fashioned like a spider's web, emphasizes that she is sky-clad rather than grant her modesty. Heavy chokers and necklaces made of gold clamber down her globular breasts, one of them ending just below the jewel of her ample waist, the navel. The energetic dance takes place in air, emphasizing that the action takes place on the cosmic rather than the mundane plane.

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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.