NEPAL THANKAS & PAUBHAS

Nepal, Thankas And Paubhas

For more than eight thousand years an artistic tradition of great skill and beauty has flourished in the Kathmandu valley. As long ago as the 12th century Newar painters, bronze casters and architects were famed across Asia and highly sought after for their talents. The emperor Kublai Khan in distant China invited them to work for him. They were patronized by great lamas and monastic institutions in Tibet
The Malla kings of their own homeland competed for their skills to enhance their palaces and temples.
Generation after generation, century after century, the painters of Nepal demonstrated their extraordinary gifts. In nearly every remaining great monastery and temple in central Tibet, the indelible print of their hand and the influence of their vision can be seen in the wonderful frescoes and breathtaking statuary.
Traditionally, painting in Nepal is a family profession. Artistic techniques are passed on from father to son or uncle to nephew and survival of their heritage has depended almost entirely on either royal or religious patronage. After the l8th century when the Malla dynasty in Nepal came to an end, the demand for Newar art declined. The ruling Rana's taste in art and architecture drifted towards the West, towards secular motifs, Victorian ornaments and sensual European statuary.
There was little demand for Newar paintings of the traditional kind or "paubhas" as they are called. The tradition of Tibetan thankas or religious scroll paintings continued, however, and those ethnic communities in the Nepalese hills whose culture was based on Tibetan Buddhism supported their own village thanka painters often sending such artists to spend many years in the monasteries of Tibet.
One painter from the upper hills now lives in a quiet corner of Kathmandu on the fringe of the city. The son of a married lama from Tukchey on the Kali Gandaki, Sashi has been painting since the age of nine. His father was a renowned doctor and meditation instructor, as well as a highly skilled artist, and it was from him that Sashi learned thanka painting.
Thanka paintings depict the sacred images of the Buddhist Mahayana or Vajrayana religion. They are hung in temples, monasteries, private houses and nomad tents. In Tibet, on special holy days, vast appliqué thankas are displayed in the open air on hillsides, to be viewed from miles around. Used for ritual evocation, meditation and devotions there is great merit to be obtained by donating a thanka to a monastery or by commissioning an artist to paint one.
When a family member has died such a commission can remove obstacles to his obtaining a good rebirth. Using a thanka for the correct visualization of certain peaceful or wrathful deities can assist in protecting and purifying body, speech and mind.
It is extremely important therefore that thankas used for these purposes be accurate in terms of form, colour and content. When preparing a canvas for painting it must first he properly primed. Thankas need to be supple and the ground and paint have to have proper adhering qualities if they are to survive for long. Rolling and unrolling in the course of transport to the sites of rituals from household to household and from storage to public viewing soon crack and damage a poorly crafted painting.
So care must be taken that the cotton cloth on which the painting will be painted is well stretched on its hardwood frame and sized with yak or buffalo skin glue. Several layers of chalk white paint ale applied according to the correct formula and polished often with especially smooth river stones.
Only when a perfect surface has been achieved will the design of the images be mapped out. Ideally a thanka represents divine form and balance. A Buddha should never resemble a misshapen demon and each of his emanations, each deity and his or her retinue have not only prescribed proportions but also a predetermined place on the surface of the thanka. Drawing out the composition requires great skill and the measurement of body width to height, head to torso, is calculated in units - the length of a barley grain, the width of a finger and so on - balanced against the perfectly vertical and horizontal axes of the canvas.
The same rigor applies to the use of pigments. Fine quality stone colours, highly prized for their luminosity, are costly and require careful grinding and preparation. Only patient work with a pestle and mortar and extraction of impurities will provide an artist with glorious sky blues, cinnabar reds and mountain greens. Special meditations are undertaken by those well taught in mixing colour, which help heighten the quality of the painter's vision as well as that of the pigment.
Of course recent access to commercially prepared paints has meant that many thanka painters today bypass some of the arduous processes of paint preparation.Today there has been a wonderful artistic resurgence in Nepal. Tourists, travellers and other visitors from abroad have become some of the most important sponsors of Sherpa, Tamang, Newar and Thakali artists. Coming from industrialized nations, travellers recognize the time and application it requires to produce these lovely paintings. And while they may not fully understand them, they are moved by the wise compassionate smiles of the Buddha images, the fearless energy of the wrathful deities and the curious birds and beasts that accompany them.
In answer to the new demand for paintings, little by little, artists' ateliers have sprung up around the Kathmandu Valley. Karsang Lama comes from a village of mask makers and painters on the northern border of Nepal. He learned to paint thankas from his grandfather, who, over ten years ago, founded a school tor painters in Kathmandu. Karsang is now in charge of more than 120 artists of varying levels of training, ranging from beginners to accomplished painters .
Housed in the outer courtyard buildings of an old Rana palace, the school takes in new students on a trial basis. For the first few months they must pay their own way, but if they show aptitude, Karsang enrols them as apprentices and gives them a good basic salary. If they maintain progress for two years they are assured permanent employment.
In a warren of small rooms running off an old wooden gallery, all stages of the painting process are under way. There is an impressive atmosphere of steady concentration and quiet in the workshops as boys and men of all ages sit cross-legged and barefoot on cushions in front of their canvases.
Thanka painting was traditionally an entirely male occupation. Inevitably Nepal's recent exposure to other cultures has brought innovation. Karsang has recently inaugurated a small workshop for training girls. ''We can't pretend that the 10th century and the 20th century are the same. The mentality has changed and the painting will change with it," he says.
There is no doubt this is true, and with new vision and inspiration, the skill that is the heritage of Nepalese artists will continue. Among the Buddhas and graceful gods and goddesses they are painting today, some undoubtedly rival their ancestors' in the great fine art museums of the world and will continue to do so.

KALCHAKRA MANDALA ( Thanka )

Kalchakra is a Sanskrit word for “Wheel of Time.” It is a complete, elaborately detailed, cosmology. It is founded in a Tantric cosmogony – a traditional sacred explanation of the creation and structure of all. In the description, the microcosm that is man is not different from the macrocosm that is the Universe. Besides these two very complex “maps” – one outside us, the other inside us, there is given a method – a way to practice and apply this knowledge, in order to achieve ultimate happiness. Kalachakra can also be translated, the Cycle of Time. It is the name of a highest level Tantra and also the name of the dark blue male deity, whose golden consort is Vishvamata (Mother of the Universe.) The teaching of it, which is preparatory to the initiation, requires the construction of an intricate Mandala, and to do it is an extensive undertaking. Perhaps the most admired and discussed symbol of Buddhist religion and art is the Mandala, a word which, like guru and yoga, has become part of the English language. Both broadly define Mandalas as geometric designs intended to symbolize the universe, and reference is made to their use in Buddhist and Hindu practices. The word Mandala itself if derived from the root Manda, which means essence, to which the suffix – la, meaning container, has been added. Thus, one obvious connotation of Mandala is that it is a container of essence. As an image, a Mandala may symbolize both the mind and the body of the Buddha. In esoteric Buddhism the principle in the Mandala is the presence of the Buddha in it, but images of deities are not necessary. They may be presented either as a wheel, a tree, or a jewel, or in any other symbolic manifestation.

Sakayamuni Buddha was born about 2549 years ago in
what is now Nepal. He was known as Siddhartha
Gautama, a prince and son of King Suddhodana and
Queen Mayadevi.

WHITE TARA ( Thanka )

White Tara represents the enlightened and liberating activity of all the Buddhas. She embodies the motherly aspect of universal compassion. Her compassion for living beings and her desire to save them from suffering is said to be even stronger than a mother's love for her children. White Tara, the Mother of all Buddhas, is known for her swiftness in responding to the prayers of those who invoke her name. Her right hand is open towards us in the gesture of supreme generosity, signifying her ability to fulfill our spiritual and material needs. Her left hand is in the gesture (mudra) of bestowing blessing, refuge, and protection. White Tara meditation practice is said to grant health, long life, fearlessness, patience, and peace. 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. White Tara has seven eyes – one in each hand and foot, and a third eye on her face – to show that she sees and responds to suffering throughout the universe; and she sits in full lotus in Vajra posture. Like the solitary form of the deity, the right hand is in Varada Mudra (gesture) of giving symbolizing supreme generosity, with the left hand holding the stem of a white blossoming lotus in a gesture signifying the Three Jewels. The fraction of White Tara is basically performed in the order to prolonged lift as well as for healing purpose. It is said that because Arrya Tara is the collective manifestation of the enlightened activity of all Buddhas, Sadhana is easily accomplished. The recitation of her Mantra merely a hundred thousand with the motivation of Bodhicitta will cause aversion of hindrances.

Goddess Lakshmi means Good Luck to Hindus. The
word 'Lakshmi' is derived from the Sanskrit word
Laksya, meaning 'aim' or 'goal'. 
 

HINDU GODESS SARASWATI ( Thanka )

Saraswati is the Hindu goddess of knowledge, music
and all the creative arts. Saraswati is called the
Mother of the Veda's and the repository of
Brahma's creative intelligence.

HINDU GOD GANESH ( Thanka )

Ganesha, the elephant headed god of wisdom and
success is the defender and remover of obstacles
and has to be propitiated first before worship to
other gods.

BUDDHA MANDALA ( Thanka )

Mandala is a circle which is a device for the Tantric meditation. It is a visual aid for concentration and introversive meditation leading to the attainment of insights and to activation of forces culminating in "Siddhi" supernatural forces. The Mandala is the graphic representation of this process. It is not only theoretical but practical also as an operational scheme involving a clear plan for practical realization of the process within oneself. It thus becomes an instrument (Yantra). There are many types and varieties of Mandalas depending on the nature of the central deity. The most classic pattern of Mandalas is of the Dhyani Buddha. This Thangka depicts Buddha Mandala. The figure in the center is of Medicine Buddha which is also known as Healing Buddha or Bhaishajyaguru. The Mandala represents "palace of purity" a magic sphere cleared of spiritual obstacles and unpurified. The square of the "Sacred palace" proper is end used in multiple circles of flame, Vajra, eight centuries (appears only in wrathful deities) lotus, then the inner square to reach to the deity of the Mandala.

WHEEL OF LIFE ( Thanka )

Commonly referred to as the "Wheel of Life," this classical image from the Tibetan Buddhist tradition depicts the psychological states, or realms of existence, associated with the unenlightened state. A powerful mirror for spiritual aspirants, the wheel of deluded existence is often painted to the left of Tibetan monastery doors; it offers an opportunity for monks and pilgrims alike to look deeply into their essential being. At the center of the Mandala, the intertwined images of a pig, a rooster, and a snake symbolically depict the ignorance, greed, and aggression that characterize the worlds of suffering and dissatisfaction, which Buddhist call Samsara. Surrounding the central figures are five concentric rings of attendant deities or, in the case of these Thangkas, their symbolic equivalents. The first circle, the circle of Great Bliss, consists of four goddesses in the four cardinal directions. At the intermediate points of the compass are four skull cups supported by vases and containing seminal essences, blood, five ambrosial nectars, and the "five awakening." The second circle is the Circle of Mind (Chittachakra); the third is the Circle of Speech (Vakrachakra); the fourth, the Circle of the Body (Kayachakra); and the fifth, the Circle of Tantric Vows (Samayachakra). In the second two versions, these circles are represented by stylized lotus petals radiating from the central image. Each of the Mandalas is inscribed by a decorative frieze of mythical animals and floral motifs, an element introduced into Buddhist painting in the mid – twentieth century by Newar artists of the Kathmandu valley. As a support for inner transformation, Chakrasamvara's blissful radiance converts timid responses to reality into radical engagement. When desire no longer clings to its object, it awakens to its primordial nature, which no longer divides into self and other. This blissful awareness encompasses all life and emotions, combusting in the liberating vision of selfless ecstasy. On the outer ring of the first Mandala are the eight charnel grounds that confront Tantric practitioners with a realm beyond hopes, desires, preferences, and fears. The charnel grounds signify the transformative energies of Tantra itself, the seamless continuity of life and death. Ignorance of our true nature is transformed in the charnel grounds into fearless and radiant awareness, the corpse of our mundane self consumed by jackals and flames. Without an acceptance of death and transfiguration, our aspirations to wholeness, to Buddhahood, can never bear fruit. All Creation Begins with the sacred union of male and female energies. To experience the pure creative passion between man and woman, to know unconditional love, is to manifest the body, mind, and spirit of a Buddha.

TREEN TARA ( Thanka )

The Goddess Green Tara is a gentle female embodiment of universal compassion. Green Tara is the embodiment of the activity of all Buddha. Green Tara represents the virtuous, enlightened, and miraculous activity of all Buddha. Tara belongs to the Karma family of unobstructed compassionate activity. She is known as the Swift One, due to her immediate response to those who request her aid. Furthermore she is known as the great liberator, specializing in overcoming obstacles in whatever form they manifest in our lives. No deity in the Buddhist pantheon is more popular than Tara. She is especially known for her power to overcome the most difficult situations, giving protection against dangers and all kinds of fear. She offers us a hand to lift us up to a mountain of enlightenment qualities. She reaches out her hand in the gesture of granting protection, freeing one from fear, obstacles, and difficulties. With her right foot stepping forward, she is alert, determined, and ready to actively help all who call upon her. Green Tara is known as the 'Swift One' or the 'Swift Liberator' due to her immediate response to those who request her aid. Green Tara's compassion for the welfare of all living beings is said to be even stronger than a mother's love for her children. She is the one who helps us cross over the ocean of suffering and guides us upon the path of enlightenment.