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.

Wheel Of Life
According to  the  ancient texts the original model for the Wheel of life was painted over the gateway of the Veluvana Bihara at Rajagriha on the instructions of the Buddha himself, who indicated exactly how the work should be done. The  Buddha, was inspired by the activities of one of his chief disciples, Maudgalyayana . Thanks to his mastery of psychic powers, Maudgalyayana was able to visit all beings in the different realms of existence, and to see  them in different states of pain or pleasure; as a result, he became aware of the causes of these different states .The Buddha realized that there were not enough people like Maudgalyayana to teach all those who needed to hear his teaching .He therefore  instructed his disciples to paint the Wheel of Life ,a depiction of the different realms of existence , and their underlying processes ,at the entrance to every monastery .The picture is not strictly a literal account of worldly existence ,but is effective in that  it appeals to our imagination with its rich and powerful imagery.

The wheel of existence is considered an endless life circle of human being. In the painting we can see a pig, a snake and a cock in the centre circle symbolizing ignorance, anger and greed respectively .These are the three cardinal sins of life which cause aversions and hindrances. The second circle shows good people moving upwards to heaven and the sinners being dragged down to hell. The third circle shows the six world of existence and the fourth and last circle shows the chain of cause and effect.The wheel of life is held by the lord of death or Yama which symbolizes that death is inevitable and good deeds or good karma lead to a better after life.

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Size: 11"/ 28 cm (width) x 14"/ 36 cm (height)
Materials: Cotton Canvas, Acrylic Colors, Genuine 24K Gold
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THIS THANGKA IS HAND-PAINTED IN THE TRADITIONAL STYLE BY NEPALI ARTIST 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.
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Please contact us to:
- Custom order a thangka of any Vajrayana deity. Usually, it takes 2-5 months (depending on complexity) to finish such a thangka of average size.