Segment: Artist Corner

Heading: Thangka Painting: Iconography of Buddism

Synopsis: Nepali Thangka Painting is famous worldwide for its iconography, religious

content, and style. Artisans especially practice Tibetan, modern, and Newari Thangka
painting here. 
Thangka painter Hira Bahadur Lama is practicing this art for three decades now, but he
does not feel like an expert. “Art is the never-ending learning process, I am still learning
new style and techniques every day,” he says. In the initial years of his career, he worked
for others. After he gained confidence that he can do it by himself, he opened his own
company Shakyamuni Thangka Udhyog- a Thangka art teaching institution as well as
Thangka whole seller in Gokarna. Before the Covid-19 pandemic, he was giving jobs to
16 artists through the same company. Especially, he is known for the Tibetan and
modern Thangka paintings.  
In a telephonic interview with WOW’s Pabita Dahal, he spoke about his art techniques
and more. Excerpts:

When did you start your career as a Thangka painter and what inspired you
to be into this?

Lama’s every cultural function requires Thangka Paintings. So, I knew about this
painting from my childhood and my uncle would also practice it little. I was fascinated
by the art and style of it. After my SLC, I came to Kathmandu to learn it. It was just a
hobby for me then. But it turned to my profession as I went with the flow. I never felt the
requirement of changing my profession. It just happened and I could not take away
myself from the beauty and fun of art. Now, it has been 30 years since I came to this
field.  

What is the process of replicating Thangka Painting?

Making of Thangka Painting is a long and painstaking process. It starts with the
preparation of the canvas that must be stretched and smooth. The white cotton cloths
are used for the canvas. The substance of it is coated with a mixture of mud and other
consistencies. Then, it is dried and rubbed multiple times until it becomes absolutely
smooth. Then comes the most difficult part of the process, sketching. The special
feature of Thangka Painting is that we cannot sketch as we like. We must replicate the
drawing exactly as per iconographic grids symbolism. The drawing of the figures, as well
as the composition, must be under strict guidelines of Buddhism. But, yeah we can show
our creativity in coloring and touch up.

After we finish the sketching the turn comes to coloring. Traditionally, the colours used
in Thangkas were made by the artists from naturally occurring vegetable and mineral
pigments. Nowadays, we largely use acrylic colours. Only seven basic colors are available
in the market. So, we need to discover multiple favors by mixing them. When we
complete colouring then comes to final touch up by the metal dust. According to the
demand, we use gold dust, silver dust, or supplementary to the gold.

It takes 20 days to one year to complete one Thangka Painting as per the quality and
size and the prize also differs according to the quality. I have sold from Rs. 12,000 up to
Rs. 3,00,000.

How is the scene of artists in Nepal who replicate the Thangka Paintings?

I think a good population of Nepal is involved in the Thangka Painting business

especially, located in Thamel, Bauddha, Patan, Bhaktapur, and Swayambhu and they are
making good earning out of it.

How is the market of Thangka Paintings in Nepal? What kind of paintings

do the customers demand the most?

The business of Thangka painting was very good before the devastating earthquake of
2015. Then, it went down gradually as the tourism business went down and the number
of tourists coming to Nepal decreased. However, it was good enough for the living of
artists, but the pandemic has brought the business at zero level now.

Tibetan art is more in demand in comparison to modern art.

What is the fun and challenges of making replicas Thangka Paintings?

Thangka Painting can be a good source of income and the most important thing is it has
historical, cultural, and spiritual significance. We make sketches of God every day. The
fascination towards every art increases as you practice more. I love my work more and
more every day. I enjoy the whole process of making a painting but inventing new favor
by mixing different colors has another level of excitement. We discover new qualities in
every art and that final result of every painting encourages us to do more. Another
advantage is we can work in our own time even at midnight or early morning.

But, the process of making Thangka Painting really needs lots of hard work and time.
We have to work sitting at the same place for a minimum of 12- 15 hours a day. And
since we cannot make the sketch as our wish we have to be careful in every inch, every
step which is really challenging.

How has the Thangka Painting evolved over the years?

Actually, the market was even better before I started this business when Europeans used
to purchase the paintings directly in European dollars. Now, the export business of
Thangka Painting is not that good in the European market. China has taken over the
market, and they demand a high amount but at a cheaper price. High competition
prevails in the market. We need to go on as the market demands since the selling of the
Thangka Painting is the sole source of income for artists. So, as the price is going down,
the quality of the painting is also going down. People these days go for the cheaper price
over quality.

How has the home isolation been, what are you working on?

As I mentioned earlier, China is the main destination for the Thangka Paintings. So, the
business almost stopped when the Coronavirus pandemic hit there. Now, our Udhyog is
closed for five months, and artists working there are jobless. Personally, I am working
on a few orders that I got from online. If the time remains like this for a long time, I
think we may need to change the profession.

Do you have any suggestions regarding Thangka Painting?

There are very few artists who have studied Thangka Painting theoretically and
practiced too. Either they have sole theoretical knowledge or they are only practical
artist. Artists having both knowledge and skill can take this field to the next level.