Wonderful world of graphic and tribal art: Thangka, Meaning of scrolls from Tibet, Bhutan, Nepal.

A thangka, variously spelt as thangka, tangka, thanka, or tanka (Nepali pronunciation: [ˈt̪ʰaŋka]; Tibetan: ཐང་ཀ་; Nepal Bhasa: पौभा), is a Tibetan Buddhist painting on cotton, silk appliqué, usually depicting a Buddhist deity, scene, or mandala. Thangkas are traditionally kept unframed and rolled up when not on display, mounted on a textile backing somewhat in the style of Chinese scroll paintings, with a further silk cover on the front. So treated, thangkas can last a long time, but because of their delicate nature, they have to be kept in dry places where moisture will not affect the quality of the silk. Most thangkas are relatively small, comparable in size to a Western half-length portrait, but some are extremely large, several metres in each dimension; these were designed to be displayed, typically for very brief periods on a monastery wall, as part of religious festivals. Most thangkas 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.

Thangka serve as important teaching tools depicting the life of the Buddha, various influential lamas and other deities and bodhisattvas. One subject is The Wheel of Life (Bhavachakra), which is a visual representation of the Abhidharma teachings (Art of Enlightenment). The term may sometimes be used of works in other media than painting, including reliefs in metal and woodblock prints. Today printed reproductions at poster size of painted thangka are commonly used for devotional as well as decorative purposes. Many tangkas were produced in sets, though they have often subsequently become separated.

Thangka 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 thanka image of their yidam, or meditation deity, as a guide, by visualizing "themselves as being that deity, thereby internalizing the Buddha qualities"^[1] tangkas hang on or beside altars, and may be hung in the bedrooms or offices of monks and other devotees.

The bhāvacakra (Sanskrit; Pāli: bhāvacakka; Tibetan: srid pa'i 'khor lo) is a symbolic representation of saṃsāra (or cyclic existence). It is found on the outside walls of Tibetan Buddhist temples and monasteries in the Indo-Tibetan region, to help ordinary people understand Buddhist teachings.wiki

Een thangka, ook wel t(h)an(g)ka is een geschilderd of geborduurd Tibetaans boeddhistische banier die oorspronkelijk in een klooster of boven een familiealtaar werd gehangen en tijdens ceremoniële processies wordt gedragen door monniken. Het Tibetaanse woord thang betekent vlak en geeft weer dat een thangka een schildering is op een plat oppervlak, die echter opgerold kan worden wanneer er geen vertoning nodig is. Om dit laatste wordt het ook wel een rolschildering (scroll-painting) genoemd. De meest voorkomende vorm van de thangka is rechthoekig in staande weergave. De afbeelding wordt traditioneel geschilderd op katoen geprepareerd met lijm getrokken uit jakhuid vermengd met kalk. Als verf gebruikt men pigmenten met als bindmiddel jakvet. Deze verf is na droging watervast en elastisch. De thangka heeft meestal een zijden voorhang om de afbeelding desgewenst te beschermen tegen lichtinvloeden.

Aanvankelijk raakte een thangkaschildering in gebruik onder reizende monniken omdat ze gemakkelijk op te rollen en vervoerd konden worden van klooster naar klooster. Deze thangka's dienden als belangrijk onderwijsmateriaal om het leven weer te geven van Boeddha, Bodhisattva en verschillende invloedrijke lama's en goden. Een populair thema is het levenswiel dat een visuele weergave is van de leer van Abhidhamma. Thangka's worden door sommigen gezien als kleurrijke muurdecoraties, terwijl ze voor boeddhisten de betekenis hebben van een verschijning van Boeddha zelf.

Wanneer een thangka goed is gemaakt, vervult het verschillende functies. Zo worden afbeeldingen van niet menselijke wezens gebruikt als leermiddelen wanneer het leven of de levens van Boeddha worden uitgebeeld, historische gebeurtenissen rondom belangrijker lama's worden beschreven of mythes van genoemde hemelse wezens worden herverteld. De levensbeschouwelijke afbeeldingen dienen als centraal punt van een ritueel of ceremonie en bieden vaak een medium waardoor gebeden of verzoeken kunnen worden gemaakt. In het algemeen wordt de spirituele kunst gebruikt als hulpmiddel voor meditatie om iemand verder te helpen op de weg naar verlichting.wikisource

According to Shaktisamgama Tantra, the spouse of Mahakali is extremely frightening. Mahakala has four arms, three eyes and is of the brilliance of 10 million black fires of dissolution, dwells in the midst of eight cremation grounds. He is adorned with eight skulls, seated on five corpses, holds a trident, a drum, a sword and a scythe in his hands. He is adorned with ashes from the cremation ground and surrounded by numbers of loudly shrieking vultures and jackals. At his side is his consort symbolized as Kālī (काली, “the power of time”). Both Mahakala and Kālī (काली, “the power of time”) represent the ultimate destructive power of Brahman and they are not bounded by any rules or regulations. They have the power to dissolve even time and space into themselves and exist as Void at the dissolution of the universe. They are responsible for the dissolution of the universe at the end of Kalpa. They are also responsible for annihilating great evils and great daemons when other gods, Devas and even Trimurtis fail to do so. Mahakala and Kali annihilates men, women, children, animals, the world and the entire universe without mercy because they are Kala or Time in the personified form and Time is not bound by anything and Time does not show mercy, nor does it wait for anything or anyone.^[5]^[6] In some parts of Odisha, Jharkhand and Dooars, (that is, in northern Bengal), wild elephants are worshiped as Mahakala.^[7] ^[8]^[9]

Mahakala is typically black in color. Just as all colors are absorbed and dissolved into black, all names and forms are said to melt into those of Mahakala, symbolizing his all-embracing, comprehensive nature. Black can also represent the total absence of color, and again in this case it signifies the nature of Mahakala as ultimate or absolute reality. This principle is known in Sanskrit as "nirguna", beyond all quality and form, and it is typified by both interpretations.^{[10] wiki}