ABSTRACT
To glance for the first time at the painting illustrated in Figure 20.1, is to be transported to an evocative world charged with fantasy and symbolism. The image depicted is not a portrait, but a symbol of Sakyamuni, Buddha, or the Enlightened One. The painting is called Thangka (Tucci 1949; Pal 1983). Typically, images on Thangka paintings, like those expressed in stone and metal, represent the various deities that populate the Tibetan artistic pantheon. Blazing with symbolism, their purpose is to transport the viewer into the supernatural and paradisiacal world of the deity, a world conceptualized by theologians and visualized by artists for countless generations conveying the Tibetan Buddhist ideal of self-realization and harmony with the cosmos. The paintings are invested with special powers, and are dedicated in an attempt to secure both material benefits and spiritual well being for the donor, the donor’s family, and the greater community (Pal 1984b).
