Red throughout the development of civilization has had connotations with life and those things considered sacred in some way. It has developed as synonymous with the preservation of our life force, as in the logos of the Red Cross and Red Crescent. Danger signs and signals are also often surrounded in red to indicate warning or threat to life. Fire has two facets. It can be a warming lifesaver or an uncontrollable destroyer.

The symbolism of the color red shines forth in Buddhist aesthetics in the type of paintings known as red thangkas. A style requiring high technical virtuosity, all elements making up these painting are subsumed in the overall red field characteristic of this special genre. Red is the color of powerful rituals and deeds. It is the color of passion, transmuted to discriminating wisdom. These are especially relevant in especially vigorous meditation rituals requiring equally potent meditative tools.

Dharmachakra in Sanskrit means the 'Wheel of Dharma'. This mudra symbolizes one of the most important moments in the life of Buddha, the occasion when he preached to his companions the first sermon after his Enlightenment in the Deer Park at Sarnath. It thus denotes the setting into motion of the Wheel of the teaching of the Dharma and is believed to transform the delusion of ignorance into wisdom. By displaying the Dharmachakra mudra, he thus helps adepts in bringing about this transition.

Click Here to View the Thangka Painting along with its Brocade

Of Related Interest:

Portraits of the Buddha

Dharmachakra

Mudras in Buddhist and Hindu Practices

Red Thangkas

Black Paintings

Color Symbolism In Buddhist Art

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