Saturday
Mandala ProjectsPainting the Sky
Artists working on Rigden Lineage Thangka at the Shambhala School of Art in India
By Lisa Johnston and Jane Vosper
Master thangka painter, Noedup Rongae, recently sent an update on how work is progressing on the Rigden Lineage thangka at his Shambhala Art School in India.
Currently drawings for more than 125 lineage figures, bodhisattvas, yidams, protectors and devis of the Shambhala Refuge Tree are complete. Painting the sky is now underway. Noedup Rongae explains, “The thangka is wrapped around a very large barrel so that four to five artists can simultaneously work on the drawings.” It is unusually large in scale at 7 x10 feet.
Due to its scale and the attention to detail required, the thangka could take up to two years to complete.
Noedup also points out, “Since this is the first ever Shambhala Refuge Tree thangka, we definitely wanted to put our inspiration and energy into this historic creation – planning and research was an important part of the process.”
Drawings of lineage figures in the sky which Noedup sent from India (click to enlarge):
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- Offering Dakinis
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- Lineage Gurus of India and Tibet
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- Four Ancestral Sovereigns
“This thangka is extraordinary. It’s historical and it’s ours. It has the element of wisdom, it has the element of courage, it has the elements of compassion and magic.”
– Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche
Watch a video of the Sakyong speaking about the thangka.
Because of the importance of this thangka to the Shambhala Community, the Sakyong has included it as one of the four priorities of the Shambhala Vision Campaign. Funds raised in this campaign will directly support the work of Noedup Rongae and his team of artists.
To see photos and hear the Sakyong speak about the priorities in the Shambhala Vision Campaign, please click on the following links for The Sakyong Foundation website:
Apr 7, 2011
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Appreciate your taking the time to debate this, I find myself strongly over it and love learning on this topic. Whenever possible, while you gain expertise, could you mind updating your site with extra information? It is quite helpful for me.
Sep 14, 2009
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This is a very wonderful event. People should know that this is the realization of a life long quest for Noedup.
Since the early eighties when the Vidyadhara asked Noedup to paint the Kings of Shambhala he has been searching for authoritative iconography for this. Two years ago everything aligned and he found text and imagery that confirmed the direction of his work for the past 25 years and at the same time the Kongma Sakyong commissioned this work. Since then there have been other auspicious events surrounding this project that I have heard about.
Perhaps someone with the technical expertise will come forward to make a CD ROM or some such presentation of the thangka. Simple prints of such an elaborate thangka should be made but unless they are very large it will be difficult to really enjoy the detail. A digital rendering for the computer that the practitioner can explore with image and explanatory text would, I think, be helpful. Perhaps an illustrated book as well.
Finally I would just like to point out that, having 6 people working for two and a half years full time, Noedup and his helpers are practically volunteering their time at $50,000 for the project. I hope that he realizes some additional compensation on the reproductions, whatever the form.
Sep 12, 2009
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Will this thangka be available for purchase?