Life of Buddha #3

Genuine hand painted thangka on cotton canvas using stone colour.

Place of origin: Nepal

These Thangkas are the illustration of Buddha’s path towards spiritual enlightenment. Buddhist philosophy divides the eventful lifetime of Buddha into twelve events, narrated in a special genre of paintings known as the Twelve Great Deeds of the Buddha’s Life. These handworks not solely delineate Buddha’s standard progression to Buddhism. Buddha’s mother dreams of a white elephant as she falls pregnant then gives birth to Buddha in the garden of Lumbini. After his birth, he instantly walks 7 steps forward. The thangka also represent his journey to become a great yogi: from deserting his family palace, internalizing the pain and suffering of the individuals beyond his palace life. His quest to seek out the solution for the misery of people. He started fasting, meditating over years to find solution for the suffering of people. However through all his actions he could still not reach level of gratification he felt when a little girl gave him rice which he ate during his meditation under Bodhi tree. The Thangka also represents the full moon night once he reached Nirvana (eternal peace), when he transformed from Prince Siddhartha Gautam into Buddha.