Mandala of Compassion

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He is shown here stands frontally on a lotus base in the centre of the mandala. As mentioned above, Avalokiteshvara has eleven heads. His eleven heads are arranged in five series from below upwards of 3,3,3,1 and 1. The topmost head is that of Amitabha Buddha. The origin and meaning of Avalokiteshvara’s eleven heads has been explained in different Buddhist traditions. According to one, the Bodhisattva of compassion had promised his spiritual father Dhyani Buddha Amitabha that he would never give up practicing loving compassion and would not reach enlightenment himself until all beings had reach nirvana. But, though he tried his best for many eons to help all living beings, he saw no decrease in their suffering within samsara and he gave up his promise in despair. Immediately his head split into a thousand pieces. Amitabha Buddha consolidated the thousand pieces into ten heads that he placed above each other and then put his own head on top. He told Avalokiteshvara not to renounce his promise and that there was still another way to accomplish his goal. Mahakala, a wrathful manifestation of Avalokiteshvara, was then created to fight against negative forces with compassion and to destroy obstacles in the path toward righteousness, thereby helping all sentient beings.

The array of Avalokiteshvara hands resembles an aura. The palm of each of the thousands hands of the Bodhisattva has an eye to see the sufferings of humankind and to help all and illuminate all with the light of wisdom. Each of the forty main arms holds a different instrument to save sentient beings. His mind does not stop with the use of one arm but moves from one instrument to another so that all his arms are of the utmost degree of efficiency. When wisdom immovable is realised, all the arms dynamised into action. The nine hundred sixty arms are depicted as an aureole in the backround of the figure, are symbolic of his measureless skillful means. Each of the forty main hands saves from a particular trouble and can be evoked by one suffering. Thus the sun-disc cures blindness. The hand with the moon-disc is invoked if one suffers from fever and looks for coolness.

He is adorned with finely designed crown and jewelry – necklaces, earrings, armlets, bracelets and anklets. The skin of an antelope is over his left shoulder, with the antelope’s head on his left breast. He wears a skirt and silk leggings made of multi-colored bands of silk. A saffron halo is behind his head.

There are four gates in the square with syllable mantra in them. Over the gates are cosmic bodhisattvas in yab yum attended by great adepts and flying deities. The square is surrounded with four circles. The outer one is the charnel ground, depicting terrifying skulls, corpses, and cosmic Buddha on elephant, followed by the circle of stylized fire fence and syllable mantra – om mani padme hum. Then there is a circle of lotus petals; from here the spiritual realm begins and one enters the mandala.

The upper centre is rendered with the figure of Vajradhara in yab yum, flanked by Devas in clouds and flying figures. The upper corners are filled with the paradise of Future Buddha Maitreya in left and Amitayus Buddha in right. Both the paradise are depicted in clouds. Below Vajradhara, Amitabha Buddha is seated on a throne with attendants and flanked by Bodhisattva Chenrezig and goddess Green Tara. Guru Padmasambhava is depicted below Maitreya Buddha, while a lama depicted below Amitayus Buddha. Offering deities are shown in clouds below these figures.

The centre of the foreground depicts Dharmaraja Yama with his female companion Chamundi on his vehicle buffalo. On the right of Dharmaraj is Rahu, while Palden Lhamo is depicted on his left. Vajrapani is depicted in lower left corner with a wrathful deity, above him. The lower right corner is filled with the figures of a lama and two wrathful protector deities are depicted just above the both the corners, perhaps pehar and Dorjey Drolo.

The background, middle ground and foreground of the painting is beautifully filled with peaks, clouds, lakes and natural vegetation etc., a typical Tibetan landscape. The colour combination is excellent and the yellow color brocade is woven with stylized flowers, leaves and auspicious symbols. This thangka is very much suitable for the ritual and practice of Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara.

This description by Dr. Shailendra Kumar Verma, Ph.D. His doctorate thesis being on the "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.