Eternal India Encyclopedia

Eternal India encyclopedia

ART

The artist starts with the central deity first. The secondary figures and the landscape around the principal deities are executed thereafter. A charcoal stick is used to draw thick lines. Colours are bright but never harsh. Pigments used are taken from minerals and plants like malochite and cinnabar. Colours principally used are red, yellow, green, limewhite, vermilion, blue and indigo. Gold is used to depict Buddha and the Bodhisattvas. Animal glue was added to the paint to increase its shine. The brushes used are fine twigs to which rabbit or goat hair is attached. The image of Buddha must strictly conform to the sacred texts. The image of Buddha is drawn in single lines and painted with even colouring. An elaborate background is given to the central deity. Every object in the painting has a symbolic religious signifi- cance; bells and drums are symbols of praise; beads of devotion, flowers signify religious accomplishments in the other worlds, jew- els represent religious merit achieved in this world, and weapons cause destruction of demons. The art of thanka painting was introduced to Ladakh in the 11th century. Most of the artists are Buddhist nuns or monks. The painting work is commenced at an auspicious moment and the artist chants prayers as he paints. Once the painting was completed, the painting was invoked with a divine presence at a ceremony called Pranapratishta. The thanka is then ceremoniously installed and from then on worshipped as sacred. Thankas are usually rectangular in shape. Each monastery has at least one thanka of 500 to 1000 ft, The famous thanka of Guru Padmasambhava at the Hemis monastery in Ladakh has brocade patchwork and worked with pearls. This is displayed only once in 12 years at the time of the Hemis festival. The subjects of painting include life histories of saints and teachers and events from the life of Lord Buddha; sometimes even wrathful deities are painted. These are called as dharmapalas. Vajrapani is the most common of these deities. He stands sur- rounded by flames holding a thunderbolt (Vajra) in his right hand. Another major theme of the thankas is the wheel of life and death. It depicts the four truths about the source of all evil and the consequent suffering. It illustrates the cycle of birth, death and rebirth all mortal beings must go through before attaining liberation through spiritual merit.

The caves and temples at Badami in the Deccan were commis- sioned by King Mangalesa of the Western Chalukya dynasty. Only fragments of paintings survive on the walls inside the cave. The court scene depicts a dark prince, (possibly King Kirtivarman), Mangalesa's elder brother. The Virupaksha temple at Hampi has murals representing epi- sodes from the Mahabharata and Ramayapa. One scene shows Vidyaranya, the guru of Harihara and Bukka, being carried on a pal- anquin. The great Brihadesvara temple at Tanjore built by the Chola Kings has paintings on its walls and ceilings. On the western wall Shiva appears as Yoga Dakshinamurthy, seated on a tiger skin and watching the dance of two apsaras. A little further on, a Chola-style temple with Nataraja enshrined in it is depicted. There is also painted a huge Nataraja with priests and devotees on the one side, and the royal family on the other. On the northern wall, there is the painting of Tripurantaka - Shiva as a big eight-armed warrior riding a chariot driven by Brahma. THE ART OF THANKAS The ancient monasteries of Ladakh have played a major role in cultivating and preserving the ancient Buddhist culture. They are storehouses of priceless religious manuscripts, scriptures, paint- ings and statues. These monasteries have thankas or painted scrolls hung in the nooks of the prayer hall. The Buddhists staunchly believe that because thankas are de- votional paintings, they ward off evil spirits, ghosts and malevolent forces. Displaying these paintings in monasteries and in private chapels, therefore helps protect the dwellers from all evil. The material used for painting a thanka is usually coarse wool- len, cotton or linen fabric. Silk is chosen for important subjects. The cloth for painting is stretched on a wooden board and a layer of thin, starchy paste made of animal ghee and talcum powder is smeared over the surface so as to fill into the texture and close up the holes. As the paste dries, the artist rubs the fabric with a flat stone or a piece of wood to smoothen the surface. Once dry, the cloth is ready for painting.

SELECTED REFERENCES

Archer, W.G., Indian Paintings from the Punjab Hills , Vols 1&2, Delhi 1973.

Basham A.L., The Wonder that was India, New York 1954.

Bussagli, Mario & Sivaramamurti, 5000 years of the Art of India

Chandra Moti Jain, Miniature Paintings from Western India.

A.K. Coomaraswamy, Rajput Painting - Introduction to Indian Art.

Khandalwala, Karl J and Chandra, Moti, New Documents of Indian

Painting - a Reappraisal, Bombay 1969

Kramrisch, Stella, The Hindu Temple : A Survey of Paintings in the

Deccan, London, 1937

N.C. Mehta, Studies in Indian Painting, Bombay 1928.