Green Tara - The Beautiful Tibetan Buddhist Goddess

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Item Code:	TE34
Specifications:	Tibetan Thangka Painting
Dimensions	Size of Painted Surface 14.0 inch X 20.0 inch Size with Brocade 26.0 inch X 35 inch

Handmade

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100% Made in India

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Green Tara gazes at the viewer here with gentle eyes. The round face is smooth and without blemish, as a goddess's should be. The drooping lids perfectly frame the eyes. The thin lips are pursed, and deftly hued a sensual red. The drop shaped mark (tika) on her forehead breaks the monotony of the gleaming face enclosed by two extended earlobes, each hung with an elaborate earring. The short proportionate neck is incised with three symmetrical conch-like curving lines. These denote the sweetness of her spoken word. Further, two beautiful floral chokers also grace her neck. In a rare depiction, she is also shown here wearing a couple of vajras beaded in a string as a necklace. The ample, unexaggerated (unlike the Indian ideal) bosom tapers, not unlike a vase, to a slim waist which widens again to enframe the shapely lower part of her anatomy. A golden scarf whirls about the shoulders, forming a sort of halo around her middle. Beneath her waist, the Green Tara is draped in an elaborately embroidered dhoti.

Her body is full, yet lithe and active. The extended right leg resting on a lotus is a firm indicator of her readiness to spring into action whenever her worshippers are faced with peril in the course of their earthly sojourn. The second leg is comfortably tucked under the first.

The artist has managed to bestow (should it not be the other way round?) an immense ambience of sublime beauty on the Green Tara. He has expressed this resolve not only through her physical charms, but the placement of her garments, ornaments and the slight, sophisticated incline of her body all add up to achieve this effect.

Click Here to View the Thangka Painting along with its Brocade

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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