Ushnishavijaya: The Goddess Victorious Over Death

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Item Code:	TK92
Specifications:	Tibetan Thangka Painting
Dimensions	Size of Painted Surface 12.0" X 18.0" Size with Brocade 25.0" X 33.5"

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This thangka portrays the goddess of long life, Ushnishavijaya. She is also known as Vijaya and is a personification of scripture, the Ushnishvijaya-dharani. She is a very popular goddess in Tibet and Mongolia. In Japan she is looked upon as the deification of Buddha's ushnisha. She is also a manifestation of Prajnaparamita, goddess of wisdom and Amitayus Buddha. Ushnishavijaya is one of the three main deities of long life. Prayers to her can prolong life, and she is thus victorious over death. Her intelligent centre white face with its three eyes looks confidently in fierce moods, her yellow and blue faces are expressing simultaneously her more magnanimous and fierce moods. Her main right hand, held near the breast, is holding a vishva vajra, signifying her perfect mastery of the basic elements of reality and thus her power to arrange them to support boundless life for any one who will spiritually benefit thereby; her upper right hand is holding a miniature image of Amitabha, the Buddha of boundless light; her second right and left hands are holding an arrow and bow, respectively, signifying the universal reach of compassion and wisdom that can penetrate the egotistic hearts of all beings and Her third right hand is in boon-granting gesture. Her main left hand, held near the chest, is holding a lasso to tie-up disturbances, while the upper hand is in the fearlessness gesture. Her lower left hand, held in meditative position, holds the vase of the elixir of immortality. She sits in vajraparyankasana on moon-disk.

She is very youthful and graceful. Her hair is partially upswept in knots with decoration over it and partially falls on her shoulders. She is wearing beautiful flowing colored silk scarves and dhoti with leggings made of multicoloured bands of silk. Her all three faces are wearing five-pronged crown with precious gemstone. Moreover she is wearing earrings, necklaces, armlets, bracelets and anklets with precious gemstone. There is an aureole and halo behind her body and head, respectively.

Top centre of the painting depicts Buddha Shakyamuni, seated in clouds; great siddha Milarepa is seated on a lotus seat in the upper left corner in clouds and lama, is seated on lotus seat in the upper right corner in clouds. In the bottom left corner of the thangka, Amitayus, the Buddha of boundless life, is seated on a lotus throne. In the bottom right corner goddess White Tara is seated on a lotus throne. The bottom centre depicts a lake and auspicious offerings. The middle ground and foreground depict a lovely mountainous landscape with lakes and natural vegetation. This is a very significant thangka as it depicts three long life deities so it is very much suitable for ritual of long life and also for daily sadhana and practices.

Select Bibliography

A. Getty, The Gods of Northern Buddhism, Tokyo, 1962

B. Bhattacharyya, The Indian Buddhist Iconography, Calcutta, 1968

L.A. Waddell, Buddhism & Lamaism of Tibet, 1895, Delhi, 1979 (reprint)

Lokesh Chandra, Transcendental Art of Tibet, Delhi, 1996

Marylin M. Rhie & Robert A.F. Thurman, Worlds of Transformation: Tibetan Art of Wisdom and Compassion, New York, 1999

This description is by Dr. Shailendra K. Verma, whose Doctorate thesis is on "Emergence and Evolution of the Buddha Image (From its inception to 8th century A.D.)".

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Unveiling the Divine Art: Journey into the Making of Thangkas

A Thangka is a traditional Tibetan Buddhist painting that usually depicts a Buddhist Deity (Buddha or Bodhisattva), a scene, or a mandala. These paintings are considered important paraphernalia in Buddhist rituals. They are used to teach the life of the Buddha, various lamas, and Bodhisattvas to the monastic students, and are also useful in visualizing the deity while meditating. One of the most important subjects of thangkas is the Bhavacakra (the wheel of life) which depicts the Art of Enlightenment. It is believed that Thangka paintings were developed over the centuries from the murals, of which only a few can be seen in the Ajanta caves in India and the Mogao caves in Gansu Province, Tibet. Thangkas are painted on cotton or silk applique and are usually small in size. The artist of these paintings is highly trained and has a proper understanding of Buddhist philosophy, knowledge, and background to create a realistic and bona fide painting.

The process of making a thangka begins with stitching a loosely woven cotton fabric onto a wooden frame. Traditionally, the canvas was prepared by coating it with gesso, chalk, and base pigment.

After this, the outline of the form of the deity is sketched with a pencil or charcoal onto the canvas using iconographic grids. The drawing process is followed in accordance with strict guidelines laid out in Buddhist scriptures. The systematic grid helps the artist to make a geometrical and professional painting. When the drawing of the figures is finalized and adjusted, it is then outlined with black ink.

Earlier, a special paint of different colors was made by mixing powdered forms of organic (vegetable) and mineral pigments in a water-soluble adhesive. Nowadays, artists use acrylic paints instead. The colors are now applied to the sketch using the wet and dry brush techniques. One of the characteristic features of a thangka is the use of vibrant colors such as red, blue, black, green, yellow, etc.

In the final step, pure gold is coated over some parts of the thangka to increase its beauty. Due to this beautification, thangkas are much more expensive and also stand out from other ordinary paintings.

Thangka paintings are generally kept unrolled when not on display on the wall. They also come with a frame, a silken cover in front, and a textile backing to protect the painting from getting damaged. Because Thangkas are delicate in nature, they are recommended to be kept in places with no excess moisture and where there is not much exposure to sunlight. This makes them last a long time without their colors fading away. Painting a thangka is an elaborate and complex process and requires excellent skills. A skilled artist can take up to 6 months to complete a detailed thangka painting. In earlier times, thangka painters were lamas that spent many years on Buddhist studies before they painted.

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Ushnishavijaya: The Goddess Victorious Over Death Email Whatsapp Facebook Pinterest Twitter Copy link

Unveiling the Divine Art: Journey into the Making of Thangkas

Ushnishavijaya: The Goddess Victorious Over Death

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