Tibetan Buddhist Sarasvati, Bringing Nature Alive With Her Veena

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Name: Tibetan Buddhist Sarasvati, Bringing Nature Alive With Her Veena
Brand: Exotic India
SKU: TZ50
Price: 395.00 USD
Availability: InStock

$296.25

$395

(25% off)

Skin a glacial white, a veena in Her hands, and minimalistic shringar - these are the characteristics of the Buddhist Sarasvati as portrayed in this brocadeless thangka. Just like in Hinduism She presides over learning and the arts, which explains the musical instrument always present in Her iconography, and is wife to Manjushri, the Buddha that embodies wisdom, very similar to Her association with Brahma in preserving what has been created. Her Tibetan Buddhist name is Yang Chenmo, invoked by Mipham Rinpoche in the text Sherab Raltri with the following lyrics, "In the expansive lotus-garden of speech of all the conquerors,/With 100,000 melodious blooms of holy Dharma,/You are a singing swan that shines as bright as moonlight,/May you now enjoy the vast lake of my mind."

Amidst the gently blooming, pale pastel-coloured petals of the freshwater lotus, She sits with Her ankles crossed and knees raised. She strums the beautifully tattooed veena to make such divine music that makes the clouds in the background swim across the sky and the waters of the stream in the foreground swirl. The angulature of the curves of Her beauteous torso and the wisps of rich green silk that float about Her betray the fact that the deity is motioning to Her own music. From the flowers in Her black hair complementing the haloed gold crown, as minimalistic as the rest of Her shringar, to the gorgeous landscape that surrounds Her, each element of nature in this thangka is highly characteristic of this type of Tibetan Buddhist painting.

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Item Code:	TZ50
Specifications:	Tibetan Thangka Painting
Dimensions	Size - 14.2 inches X 19 inches

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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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