About Thangka Paintings

Thangka also spelled as thanka, tanka is the name for scroll banners screen/ wall hanging that is found in monasteries and family homes, shines in Tibet and Nepal. Thangka pronounced as Thang-Ka derived from the Tibetan word which means "recorded message". A complete thangka consists of art painted on a cotton canvas, a brocade, and a dust cover which are traditionally made of silk. Apart from the silk brocade, the canvas painting can also be put into a frame for wall hangings, thus giving it a more modern appeal.

Although it is believed that thangkas first appeared in Tibet and Nepal around the 7th Century, the origin of thangka paintings historically came to Tibet from India and was later largely influenced by the art form developed in Nepal. As the thangka painting tradition spread to Nepal and Tibet, painters often first studied the art of thangka painting under the mentorship of experienced Lamas as apprentices. The thangka form of painting developed alongside Buddhist wall paintings and murals, that were extensively painted on walls of caves in India during ancient times. Some of the painting have survived and can be found in UNESCO world heritage site such as the Ajanta Caves that dates back to the 2nd Century BCE.

As beautiful as the thangka may be, the process of thangka painting is laborious and complex with several stages involved.

Canvas Preparation
First, cotton linen is stretched by weaving all of its four sides to a wooden frame. Next, a wet dye solution is prepared with a mix of water, resins, animal wax, calcite powder. It is then applied to the surface of the linen and then dried. After the stretched linen is dried the solution is again applied to the surface, a process that continues until all the pores in the linen is covered. In the third stage, the surface of the stretched linen is rubbed with a smooth stone to give the canvas a flat surface.

Painting
The process first starts with the artist drawing an outline of the art with pencil or charcoal as per iconography grids. After the completion of the outline, it is then followed by paint and a brush, and this is when most of the painting is done. Let alone a masterpiece, a good thangka painting usually takes a couple of months to complete. The paint colors and shades are vital to bringing a character, mood, and overall visual appeal to the art, and only a skilled thangka artist would know the recipe to create mesmerizing art with a variation of colors. The colors are traditionally made from minerals, vegetable pigments, and some thangkas are also painted with 24K gold along with the mineral colors. After the painting is completed the canvas is woven into a silk brocade that often has a silk cloth to cover the painting from dust when it isn't displayed.  

Thangkas are widely used in monastery schools as teaching tools and hung in homes to protect against evil spirits. Today, it is also hung around as art decors. However, one should remember that a thangka is not only just a piece of art or a religious object, but also an artifact that has a message from the artist telling you a story on a great number of subjects on Tibetan Buddhism theology, philosophy, astrology, and the lives of Buddhas and deities.