Paintings refer to a fundamental form of art. The artist, with his or her dexterous hand movements, creates magic with colors and brush. There are various forms of paintings worldwide. Freedom of imagination takes a material shape through painting. A genuinely indigenous piece of painting, regardless of culture or creed, is capable of dissolving the barriers of cultural differences. Thangka paintings refer to a Tibetan decorative style wherein figures are drawn on flat surface which is flexible enough to be rolled up when not in display. Due to this feature, Thangka paintings are sometimes referred to as scroll paintings. The earliest use of Thangka paintings was found in Buddhist banners. These banners used to feature prominently in family altars or monasteries.
Tibet was the cradle for Thangka paintings. The wandering monks in ancient Tibet took the leading role in popularizing this form of embroidery. Since the monks had to move around from one monastery to another on a frequent basis, they opted for Thangka. The fact that the canvas can easily be scrolled helped their cause a great deal. The upright rectangular shape is the most well-known form of Thangka painting.
The Tibetan Thangkas are extremely convoluted in concept and form. They do not refer to any standard form of painting, nor did they originate from any uniform resource. The three dimensional aspects of Thangka paintings make it more composite in nature.
The pictorial representations of themes and regional or conceptual dissimilarities make this genre of painting as diverse as you have ever come across!
Two of the three integral elements of Thangka include a painted or embroidered picture panel and a textile framework. The third one may refer to either one or more of the following:
- Leather corners
- A silk cover
- Ornamental knobs
- Fasteners
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It might also be noted that any piece of Thangka is not likely to represent its original form.
Thangka paintings were introduced as vehicles to portray thoughts or reflections over regular happenings. Due to this reason, Thangka can be used as a citation to attitude, posture, attire, color and so on. Normally a specific theme is taken and then it is elaborated as per the discretion of the artist. Often blocks of text are added to the painting to exposit on the central theme.
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