Amitayus – The Buddha of Long-Life

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Amitayus belongs to the Yoga Tantra. His colour is red and he always holds the long-life vase that sometimes has an Ashoka-tree branch, the tree of life, coming out of it. The vase contains water, saffron, and nectar pills, food of the gods that confers immortality. Amitayus is a central deity in longevity rituals and contemplations.

Amitayus is distinguished from Amitabha Buddha – Amitabha is always depicted in Dhyana-mudra, with a pindapatra, and he is a nirmana-kaya,a Buddha with monastic robes. While Amitayus is also shown in Dhyana-mudra, but with an amrita-kalasha filled with ambrosia, nectar pills and topped by a branch of Ashoka tree, symbolizing long life with full of health. He is a sambhoga-kaya with royal ornaments. The conceptualization of enlightenment as a flash of illumination led to the apotheosis of infinite as Amitabha. An important function of deities is healing and long life. His healing aspect was apotheosized Amitayus. Amitayus Buddha is invoked to cure a person in ill-health, but on death he went to the world of Amitabha. Amitabha resides in the Western Paradise of Sukhavati but Amitayus has no specific heaven and he is placed on an abstract plane.

Thus Amitayus or Infinite Life is a deity parallel to but independent of Amitabha. In the Tibetan tradition he has been clearly distinguished from Amitabha, both iconographically and philosophically. In India, in the Buddhists Sanskrit literature, Saddharmapundarika-sutra, and Sukhavati-vyuha,Amitabha and Amitayus are mentioned indiscriminately. Even Sadhanamala, has not clearly distinguished them. The Tibetan Buddhist tradition credits the distinctive entity of Amitayus to the Indian teacher Tiphu who revealed it to Ras-chun-grags-pa who diffused his worship in the Land of Snows. In the Japanese tantric denomination of Shingon, Amitayus (Japanese Muryoju) belongs to the Garbhadhatu-mandala and Amitabha (Japanese Amida) to Vajradhatu-mandala. Lokeshchandra, assigned distinction between Amitabha and Amitayus to the seventh century A.D.

The thangkas and sculptures of Amitayus Buddha and properly worshipped in Tibet, Mongolia, China, Korea and Japan mainly because of the firm faith of the people in his powers of prolonging life, as the absolute symbols of Infinite (amita) Life (ayus). A sacrament to Amitayus Buddha is celebrated on an auspicious day for life everlasting. Devotees throng to the temple to receive blessings. Every village performs it at least once a year for the life of the community.

In this black esoteric painting Amitayus Buddha is seated in vajraparyankasana on a lotus base. He holds the long-life vase with an Ashoka tree emerging from the top. His colour is red, he wears ornaments of Bodhisattva, a crown, floral silk scarves and dhoti. There is an aureole, surrounded with plants, and halo behind his body and head, respectively. Amitabha Buddha is seated on top centre in clouds with rainbow light. The bottom centre depicts auspicious offerings, placed on a lotus emerging from a lake. The painting is brilliantly drawn and painted; it is very much suitable for sadhana and practice of Amitayus Buddha.

This description is by Dr. Shailendra K. Verma. His Doctorate thesis being: "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.