Buddhist Thanka
...urrounded by emblems attributed to them. Some items are symbols, hand-bells, tridents, conches, and daggers. The background itself represents and area where the reality and material possessions meets the spiritual reality. They are populated with landscapes and natural sights such as large puffy clouds, mountains, valleys, lakes, monasteries, pagodas, disciples in a prayerful attitude, and animals of all sorts. Buddhas and Bodhisattvas have halos over their heads, and body nimbuses, but fierce deities like mahākāla are surrounded by a circle of flames. Some thankas have a circular sacred space that is occupied by the main deity of the painting. They might also have protector deities in the four directions on that same painting, and many other celestial beings outside of the inner circle of this geometric structure. Thanka paintings have such an impact on the religious practices of Buddhism that there are text books completely devoted to the making of thanka paintings. There are specific proportions that must be adhered to ensure the paintings are done right. Buddha figures have the same proportions as the Buddha himself. Even the colors of each type of figure are written down, leaving little room for improvisation. The main deity must always be painted in the center, and they should ideally be created by one of the monastic order. The lesser deities were surrounding the main deity in a hierarchal fashion. Directly above the head of the main deity are the gurus, while lesser deities had to be in the lower half of the picture. Sometimes the painter adds a humble practitioner in the bottom corner of the painting. Even the rituals were written out in books! While painting, the painter followed these rituals for painting step-by-step, right from the book. There is a great spiritual meaning in thanka paintings, and the ideal painter was expected to be a monk initiated in the tantra. He also must be able to visualize the details of the thanka while creating it. Visualizat...