Thang-ga
|
Thang-ga is a Tibetan word which refers to the scroll painting mounted with colorful satins and fabrics. It is the religious scroll painting hung in the hall for the Tibetans to worship. Thang-ga is famous for its florid color and takes traditional non-ferrous ore as the raw material. After the painting is drawn and mounted, colorful satins will be used to connect the frames as decoration. All the dye of Thang-ga is made manually. And because of the high pureness, strong covering capability of the dye, the painting will have gorgeous color and can be preserved for one thousand years without any change in color. Thang-ga is usually hung in palaces, temples, folk houses, and pray halls of the manors in Tibet.
 |
Thang-ga art enjoys a long history. People can learn the beginning of the Thang-ga art through simple colored drawing and decorations found in the Ka-nuo Cultural Site 4-5 thousand years ago. According to the Recordation on the Dazhao Temple, Songtsen Gampo of Tibet painted the figure of Aleanterre Brahm all by himself after a sacrifice, and, in legend, this is the first Thang-ga. In terms of content, most of Thang-ga describes Tibetan religion, history, culture, art, science and technology, reveals the Tibetan's brief and wisdom, and records the civilization, history and development of Tibet.
 |
Most of Thang-ga is produced by folk handicraftsmen and secularized monks, both of who, in general, have acquired the Tibetan language and are respectfully called "La-ru", namely, people who build Buddha, and enjoy a high prestige. Every big temple keeps a rather large number of Thang-ga. A big Thang-ga in the Potala Palace measures over 50 meters long and 40 meters wide. To preserve it, a storeroom of two floors covering an area of 340 square meters was specially built at the feet of Shaifo Platform. On every February 30 of Tibetan calendar, a treasure fair will be held in Lhasa, during which period several thousand of Lama dressed in Buddhist clothes, with various rare musical instruments, offerings and flags in hands, will depart from the Dazhao Temple through Liuli Bridge to the front of the Potala Palace to celebrate ritual and make various performances; at this time, the big Thang-ga of Buddha figure will be hung at the Shaifo Platform, forming a spectacular scene.
|
|
The huge thangka painting in the Potala Palace is more than 50 meters long and over 40 meters wide. To store the painting, a 340-sq. meter, two-storey storehouse was especially built at the foot of the Buddha scroll displaying terrace of the Potala Palace. On the 30th day of February of the Tibetan calendar every year, a Buddhist ritual featuring treasure displaying is held. Thousands of lamas wearing Buddhist robes and holding all kinds of precious musical and sacrificial instruments and sutra flags set out from the Jokhang Temple, crossing Liuli Bridge and heading for the Potala Palace where religious rituals and various performances are held. At the time, the huge thangka painting is displayed on the terrace, forming a grand scene.
|
The Types of Thang-ga |
Thangka paintings feature a wide range of subjects, which can be roughly divided into the following categories: Buddhas and Bodhisattvas; biographies of buddhas; Tantra, Istadeva and all relevant gods; Goddess of Mercy; Buddha-protecting gods; the great kings; eminent monks and those with great achievements; Tibetan history and historical figures; altars and Buddhist pagodas etc. In addition, motions of celestial bodies like the sun and the moon, Shambhala, Mount Xumi and metempsychosis etc are also featured in thangka paintings.
|
The Pigments of Thang-ga |
Thangka holds a sacred place in Tibetans' hearts and as such, there are stringent requirements on the pigments used in thangka painting. The pigments are usually composed of various types of bright-colored minerals, plant pigments, pure gold and pure silver. And some thangka paintings are even drawn using ground powder of various jewelries. The application of gold powder can be seen as a unique skill in thangka painting. The processed gold powder is used to paint all kinds of lines, patterns and motifs and due to the purity of gold, there may be a dozen or so hues. In addition, precious stones can be used to bring out multiple layers of the painting by grinding. It's no wonder the gilded parts of many thangka paintings remain glistening after the paintings suffered blazes thousands of years ago and the rest parts were blurred.
|
The Mounting of Thang-ga |
When a thangka painting is finished, an eminent monk or living Buddha is usually invited to add incantations to the painting before mounting it with multicolor satin. Then, the painting is sent to a temple, where a consecration ceremony is held to bring the spirits of Istadeva, Buddha or Bodhisattva to the painting. Thus, the painting is given nimbus and can be regarded as a sacred thing.
|
|
Editor: Li Ling |
|
|
