Thangka/ Thanka Painting : Style, Form and Its History थंका चित्रण का इतिहास

A Style of Religious Expression: Thangka Painting 

Art Classes with Nag Sir

Thanka is a Tibetan word meaning an object that can be kept under wraps. Thanka paintings are made on clothes, hence they came to be called Thanka Patachitra and it developed into a style of art.

A painting based on a cloth based on the life of Buddha and his teachings is called Thanka painting. This painting is a unique example of Indian, Nepali and Tibetan culture.Thangka is considered a special painting art of Tibet. It is said to be an encyclopedia of Tibetan culture and a valuable non-material heritage of traditional culture and art.

All aspects of Tibetan society are described in Thangka Chitra art.

Through this, Tibetan religion, culture and philosophical values ​​have been expressed. 

Thangka painting Of Tibet in the Luho County area has a four-hundred-year-old history of its art. It was usually made on a washed piece of cotton cloth. Later, silk cloth was also used.

Thanka painting in Nepali language called Paubha Kippa.This is a purely spiritual painting because the subject of this painting is religious and spiritual. Since it is a painting based on the life and teachings of Lord Buddha, it is also called Buddhist painting.

In Mahayana and Bajrayan wings of Buddhism, there is a big place of thankas. Without this painting, any Gumba or other religious place is to be incomplete.

In the middle part of a garment for making a stitch, there is a picture of the chief god / goddess or guru and their four and the work related to them are shown.

There are some important things about this that I am telling you.

After marrying the princess of Nepal, Bhrikuti to the Tibetan king Sronchan Gampo, Bharkuti took Buddhist objects such as the stitch from Nepal to Tibet. According to the folk statement, he used these things in Buddhism propaganda there.

The Newars of Nepal are the caste community (painters) whose main task is to build a stitch.

Suman Kumar Singh has given interesting information in this context in his blog Thanka illustration tradition, stories and history.

Before talking about Thanka paintings or paintings, let us know some stories or legends related to it.

One of them is that Anathapindak, a disciple of Buddha, married his daughter to the then king of Lanka. To commemorate this marriage, the King of Lanka sent many valuable gifts to his Indian counterpart.

When the King of India tried to send something in his redemption, the problem arose as to what to send. Finally, it came to the decision that with the permission of Lord Buddha, his picture should be made and sent.

The king entrusted this task to a group of his painters after getting permission for painting by Lord Buddha.but now another problem has come to light that the eyes of those painters were not able to stand in front of the light beam of the face of God.

Also, it was no longer possible for painters to see their drawings in front of that aura.

In such a way, how the painting could be done, in the end, the solution to this problem was found that when Lord Buddha was standing on the banks of a lake and looking at his image in the water, then that group of painters cleaned the image of Lord Buddha on the cloth Made a huge picture.

 This picture was then sent to Lanka with other gifts.

Some people associate the present Thanka depiction with this tradition.

At the same time, some people also associate it with Nepal, the description of this story is as follows-

 Painters from Nepal were called by King Gampo for painting (graffiti) at a temple in Lhasa in the late sixth century. Later this king of Tibet, i.e., Sangastan Gampo, was married to Bhukruti, daughter of King Anshuvarma of the Lichchavi Republic of Nepal.

This king is credited with introducing Buddhism in Tibet. It is understood that under the influence of his Nepali and Chinese wives, he himself adopted Buddhism and also expanded it into Tibet.

One such legend is in relation to the daughter of Sri Lankan King Muttig Sering. According to the legend, his daughter was very much influenced by the life of Lord Buddha. Once he sent the pearl necklace to Lord Buddha. Mahatma Buddha was pleased with the reverence of the king's daughter.

In return for the gift of this reverence, it is said that the Buddha left some bright rays from his aura on the silk cloth whose images emerged on the cloth. Then Mahatma Buddha presented this garment to his disciple. This picture was also called 'Thupavajemi'.

With reference to the construction tradition of Thanka Chitra, Some such arguments sometimes come to the fore that this art tradition existed in Magadha during the time of Magadha emperor Bimbisara of Maurya Dynesty. But no authentic evidence has been found regarding this.

If seen, India, Nep al and Ch ina and even Bhut an have their own claims about this painting style. On the other hand there is a truth that Tibet is the center of what we know as Thanka. For some of these reasons, this tradition continues in some form or the other in areas where Buddhism was spread through Tibet.

 For example, Mongolia, Ladakh, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Dharamsala, Lahaul-Spiti Valley including northeast China and parts of Russia.

In Indore, Dr. Sudha Verma is a painter who has done Ph.D on Thanka Patachitras and has also written a book on them.

Dr. Varma states that Thanka art is entirely focused on the life of Gautam Buddha and Buddhism. The theme of this art is Buddha, Buddha incarnations, Bodhisattvas and their stories, beliefs etc. This art developed and flourished in Buddhist temples itself.

Although Thanka Patachitra art reached Tibet from India, but later it reached and became popular in countries like Japan, China, Korea etc. Thanka Patachitra can be seen from Buddhist temples to homes there.

Now let's talk about the subject of pictures.

Tantric rituals are given great importance in Buddhism. 'Thanka' has a special significance in these rituals. 'Thanka is actually a portrait style. In it, pictures are made based on various emotions of humans.

There are love, fear, anger, hatred etc. in these emotions, as well as the tendencies that humans bring with them from previous births. Thanka pictures seem to depict ghostly vampires, demonic practices and tantric actions in a cursory glance.

Some pictures seem to describe the process of human life cycle. In fact Thanka is an integral part of Buddhist rituals. Just as the sixteen rites are emphasized in Hinduism, the Thanka paintings depict various rites of life.

Thanks are actually frescoes that are made on the board. They mainly depict Lord Buddha and other tribal deities.

In these paintings Mahatma Buddha is depicted in the middle. Pictures of the remaining deities are depicted around it. All these pictures are small in size. Their main subject is Jataka tales.

In this, Lord Buddha is directly or indirectly preached. The 'Thanka' painter definitely shows the emotions of human beings in these pictures which are present in a human form.

The mere sight of these pictures automatically brings a sattvic emotion to humans. Who and when to make Thanka paintings, what should be their original subject, what should be the context in them,

Which aspect of life, feeling or emotion should be inserted? All these are determined by the scholar 'Lama'. This requires a special state of mind. Before drawing a painting, the painter understands the subject of the picture properly. It is not necessary to duplicate an already drawn picture, but the painter has his own inspiration. Keeping in mind the theme of the subject, one has to take care of the proportions of animals, birds, flowers, leaves, belts and other materials. On completion of the painting, he has a 'dedication ceremony'. A special ritual is organized on this occasion. Apart from the essential rites like birth and death, naming, marriage, health, happiness, peace, longevity and Mangal wishes etc. have special significance for Thanka.

In Thanka Patachitras, along with Gautama Buddha and his avatars like Avalokiteshwara, Padmasambhava, Amitayu, Ratna Sambhav etc., Maitreya i.e. future Buddha is also made.

The pictures show Buddhist philosophy with Buddha's childhood, marriage, penance, nirvana etc. Many Buddhist beliefs are taken into consideration while drawing. For example, Amitabh is always made in red because according to Buddhist belief, he is considered like the Sun.

The ascetic Shakya Muni means Buddha's begging vessel in one hand and the other hand touches the earth, which is called Bhusparsh Mudra.

There are definitely moons and suns in every picture because they are considered a symbol of the movement of time. Ashtamangal signs are also made. When making each figure, its color and posture are taken care of.

Natural colors were also used in Thanka illustration.

In ancient times, silk fabrics were painted with natural colors, but now natural colors are difficult to get, so now we can make silk fabrics with tempra, acrylic or oil colors.

First a picture is made on silk cloth, then piping of another color cloth is put around it, and then the picture is fastened with needle-thread on a brocade or a fine cloth. After the brazing, a lace is then applied around.

Both the wood on which the cloth is soldered is put and through which they are hung on the wall.

The main purpose of producing these paintings is because the propagation of the religion i.e. the ideas of Buddhism and the teachings of Lord Buddha has been spread to the masses.

Therefore, followers of Buddhism keep it like a holy book, generation after generation. Due to certain reasons, its availability was not seen in the market before. Generally, it was that some religious person used the service of its expert to prepare it for himself and gave him gifts and honors in his redemption.

In Buddhist sutras and scriptures, there is a mention of yatra in the scriptures.

Construction method is also mentioned in these texts.

It has been mentioned in the texts 'Chakrasamvara', 'Sariputra', 'Kalachakra', 'Kaushalankar Sutra' and 'Mandal' etc. that the Gods who provide happiness and peace and suffering grievances at the time of the creation of Thanka Chitra. What should be the shape-type of the body.

Now let me tell you how many types of pictures Thanka has.

there are Three types of Thanka painting's style are described here, which are known as 'Mana De', 'Karma Garde' and 'Utsang' style.

The expressions of all the styles are different. They are used in context. Now painters trainers to develop Thanka picture style Schools are also being run for credit. Formal training of Thanka paintings is being imparted at Manali, Keylong, Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh.

Currently, opportunities to be trained in it are being provided by various self-help organizations, and efforts and results are also coming to connect it with contemporary art forms.

प्रस्तुतकर्ता : डॉ शशि कान्त नाग, असिस्टेंट प्रो ललित कला, डॉ विभूति नारायण सिंह परिसर, गंगापुर, महात्मा गाँधी काशी विद्यापीठ, वाराणसी 

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