Thangka IS5110 2022

Thangka IS5110 2022

Movable Cultural Heritage

Thang-ka, usually depicting a Buddhist deity, scene, or mandala. Most Thang-kas were intended for personal meditation or instruction of monastic students. They often have elaborate compositions including many very small figures. A central deity is often surrounded by other identified figures in a symmetrical composition. Narrative scenes are less common but do appear. Thang-ka perform several different functions. Images of deities can be used as teaching tools when depicting the life (or lives) of the Buddha, describing historical events concerning important Lamas, or retelling myths associated with other deities. Devotional images act as the centerpiece during a ritual or ceremony and are often used as mediums through which one can offer prayers or make requests. Overall, and perhaps most importantly, religious art is used as a meditation tool to help bring one further down the path to enlightenment. The Buddhist Vajrayana practitioner uses a Thang-ka image of their yidam, or meditation deity, as a guide, by visualising "themselves as being that deity, thereby internalising the Buddha qualities" Thang-ka hang on or beside altars, and may be hung in the bedrooms or offices of monks and other devotees.

wordlheritage2022

zj32

English

Physical Object

493

05/05/2022

05/05/2022

Kossak, Steven M., Singer, Jane Casey, (eds.), Sacred Visions: Early Paintings from Central Tibet (exhibition catalogue), Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1998

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thangka

current,29.64826,91.1313913;

TEXT

823

cotton, silk or appliqué