What is a Thangka painting?
The Tibetan word Thangka means an unfolding painting, where the word Thang stands for an unfolding scroll and Ka means a painting. Thangka paintings, as a whole, are a visual representation of Buddhist deities, scenes, or mandalas, painted on silk or cotton canvas.

Thangka Paintings follow a generic principle of composition, design, and iconography. It is made following tradition and guidelines while leaving spaces for personal creativity and expression. In Buddhist culture, Thangka Paintings hold high religious values. In a way, it is also a tool that facilitates the realization of one's true nature or the nature of reality

In Ritual Thangka, we provide a collection of a variety of Thangka paintings. Every one of our paintings has been hand-picked by our curators. We take great care in scrutinizing all aspects, from the quality of the thangka cloth to its composition, so that you get only the finest quality paintings.

All Gold Style Kalachakra Mandala Thangka | Meditation Too

Gold Thangka

To put it plainly, Gold Thangkas are not painted from an aesthetic perspective but rather completed only to earn merit on the part of the patron. It is because of the large amount of gold used in making the thangkas. It provides a similar context to that of Tibetans offering gold to paint the Jowo’s face in Lhasa and also painting the faces of statues in gold.

An interesting Eastern Tibetan parable speculates the origin of the Gold Thangka. It concerns a highly spiritual Lama who once invited two famous artists one from Chamdo, the other from Central Tibet, to paint his shrine room from him. The Lama showed them his shrine room where they discovered the walls were covered with gold paint. The Lama explained that some time previously, he had experienced a vision of radiant gold figures.

He recounted his vision to the artists and asked if they could recreate these figures on his wall He stated the forms were to be created without the use of sketchwork or the application of a single brush stroke upon the gold. The two conceived the idea to utilize the technique of burnishing the gold, executing the outlining and shading with this method. The work was so finely accomplished that it is said the figures were animated in appearance. The artists then were renowned as divine artists The Tibetan term for the work is 'Serku jazer ma', translating into Serku (Gold image) jazer ma (rainbow with radiant), gold images with the radiance of rainbows.
It is reported that in the year after Buddha Shakyamuni attained Enlightenment, he was asked by King Chandrabhadra of Shambhala to teach the Kalachakra Tantra. The Buddha manifested himself in the form of the Kalachakra meditational deity and gave the full teachings and initiation of this tantra. The kalachakra teaching was then transmitted through a lineage of seven kings and 25 propagators.

About Kalachakra Mandala

Kalachakra mandala is the “Palace of Purity” with more than seven hundred deities residing inside, represented by various signs and symbols. The entrances of the palace nearest to the center are said to be cittacakra(mind wheels), and the middle entrances are said to be vakcakra(voice wheels). Outside the gates of vakcakra are figures of various animals, including a corpse, and a marigold-like lotus flower. They include a deer, buffalo, ram peacock, elephant, mongoose, bull,makara, mouse, and the Garuda. They are the vehicles of various divinities of the Hindu pantheon.

The outermost gates belong to the third circle called kayacakra(body-wheels). There are four gates and four chariots one in each gate. You can see boars drawing a chariot at the eastern gate, horses drawing the chariot at the southern gate, elephants at the western gate, and lions drawing the chariot at the northern gate.

Kalachakra Mandala is one of the most complicated forms of Tibetan mandalas which is used as a device for meditation and which is worshipped for the betterment of all the sentient beings. It also represents the cosmos system which consists of the five major elements of life. Namely – Fire, Earth, Water, Air and Space.

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Size: 24"/ 61 cm (width) x 24"/ 61 cm (height)
Materials: Cotton Canvas, Acrylic Colors, Genuine 24K Gold
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THIS THANGKA IS HAND-PAINTED IN THE TRADITIONAL STYLE AND THE QUALITY IS HIGH

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Framing:
-Not mounted on a traditional brocade
-Tibetan Silk brocade is available in a variety of colors and quality
-Price ranges from $35 to $100 depending upon the silk quality
-Additional 3 business days for this service
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Delivery:
-Free Shipping
-Standard Courier Services
-4-10 business days for delivery
-All items are insured
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Return Policy:
-Returns are accepted within 60 business days.
-You can ship either to Nepal or Texas (USA), whichever works better for you.
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We will be more than happy to answer all your questions.