One of the most common sights outside Buddhist monasteries today are workshops where artists paint and sell thangkas, traditional scroll paintings created on a flat surface known as a thang. The term ‘thangka’ in Tibetan roughly translates to ‘recorded message.’ In Tibet, deities are depicted in sacred forms, both as three-dimensional sculptures and two-dimensional artworks like thangkas and frescoes.
Historically, thangkas adorned monasteries and private shrines across Tibet, but their commercial demand has recently surged due to their artistic value. Originating in Tibet, thangka painting has spread to all regions where Buddhism is practiced. Initially, thangkas were used for meditation and visualizing deities to receive blessings and served as instructional tools, spreading knowledge about medicine and astronomy. Medicinal thangkas, in particular, have a fascinating history worth exploring.
What Are Medicinal Thangkas?
Medicinal thangkas are unique artworks depicting medicinal herbs, anatomical details, and healing practices of Tibetan medicine. Being portable, these thangkas served as educational tools, visually representing medical knowledge and techniques used in traditional Tibetan healing practices.
Historical Origin of Medicinal Thangkas
The Fifth Dalai Lama, Ngawang Lozang Gyatso (1617-1682), founded the Ganden Phodrang government in 1642 CE. Under his leadership, significant advancements in medical education and practice were achieved in Tibet. With guidance from notable physicians like Changopa Nangso Dargye and Darmo Menrampa, several medical colleges were established in Central Tibet. This effort revitalized traditional medical knowledge and led to the development of new theories.
Desi Sangye Gyatso, a distinguished scholar and regent, supported the Dalai Lama’s initiatives and ensured the ongoing progress of medical practice after the Dalai Lama’s death. He commissioned a series of medicinal thangkas based on the Blue Beryl, a prominent Tibetan medical text that remains authoritative today, to ensure the ruler’s longevity and secure political stability in Tibet.
Despite their educational role, medicinal thangkas held significant value within Tibetan Buddhism, balancing religious inspiration and practical applications in life-saving compounds, diverging from strict monastic lineages
The visual content of medicinal thangkas was influenced by cross-cultural perspectives on health, hygiene, and sexuality. Tibetan troops likely encountered ancient cave paintings depicting health and hygiene-related subjects during their occupation of Dunhuang in China, inspiring them to incorporate these themes into their artwork.
The 17th-century Tibetan medicinal thangkas, while not replicating Dunhuang mural styles, were undoubtedly influenced by them. These thangkas reveal a powerful epistemic authority that superseded all religious organizations in Tibet. The inclusion of taboo subjects in the visual representation of medicine makes medicinal thangkas unique.
Subject Matter of Medicinal Thangkas
The medicinal thangkas commissioned by Desi Sangye Gyatso during the 17th century adopted a visual format that simplified the teaching of medicine in the colleges established by the Fifth Dalai Lama. The intricate details of medicinal herbs, spices, minerals, and human anatomy featured on the thangkas were designed to facilitate a better understanding of Tibetan medicine. Selecting medicine as a theme was revolutionary at a time when thangkas were solely painted on religious subjects. The precision with which the human body’s organs, medicinal plants, and the preparation of medicinal compounds were depicted in the thangkas mirrored the efforts of documenting medical knowledge in Europe.
Integration of Medicinal Thangkas into Tibetan Buddhism
Desi Sangye Gyatso was likely influenced by the Greco-Arab medical tradition and the works of Al-Qwazini while illustrating human anatomy. Artists working on the medicinal thangkas are believed to have used live models. One artist, Lodrang Tenzin Norbu, gained anatomical knowledge by working with corpses. Local doctors provided medicinal plant samples from Tibet, enabling artists to create realistic drawings. A person was appointed to consult local experts to collect live botanical samples of medicinal herbs for accurate replication in thangkas.
Medicinal thangkas also offered insights into traditional Tibetan customs, clothing, architecture, and landscapes. Scenes such as nomadic herding, farming, and festivals depicted on the thangkas provide a glimpse into the social fabric and livelihoods of the 17th-century Tibetan people.
Initially, it was believed that Lord Buddha preached the Four Tantras, a key Tibetan medical text. However, 16th-century Tibetan scholars argued that the Four Tantras originated in Tibet, not from Buddha. The absence of Buddha’s image in medicinal thangkas supports this view. Instead, these thangkas depict daily life and medicinal themes, showing Buddhism’s integration into Tibetan culture. References to Tibetan food, climate, astrological techniques, and the Bonpo religion in the Four Tantras suggest its Tibetan origins. The Four Tantras blend various medical traditions, with Buddha’s teachings being a minor part, and the influence of Ayurveda and Vedic knowledge is significant.
Tibetans usually propitiated Goddess Tara, Amitayus, Bhaisajyaguru (the Medicine Buddha), and manifestations of Vaishravana for protection, long life, healing, well-being, wealth, and the removal of obstacles. The religious value of a thangka, even when used to spread medical awareness, cannot be undermined. Thus, medicinal thangkas served dual purposes: spreading Buddhism and visually imparting medical knowledge.
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Despite their educational role, medicinal thangkas held significant value within Tibetan Buddhism, balancing religious inspiration and practical applications in life-saving compounds, diverging from strict monastic lineages. Both the Dalai Lama and Desi Gyatso emphasized medicine’s integral role in Buddha’s teachings and highlighted monks’ historical contributions to medical knowledge. They depicted the reverence for Lord Buddha’s Bhaisajyaguru manifestation, linking medicinal thangkas profoundly with Buddhism.
In the medicinal thangkas commissioned by Desi Gyatso, Lord Buddha was depicted as Bhaisajyaguru, the Medicine Buddha, preaching the Four Tantras to disciples, non-Buddhist teachers of medicine, and bodhisattvas. This depiction portrayed Lord Buddha atop the mountain believed to be the location of the medical city of Tanadug. Associating Lord Buddha with the Four Tantras aimed to cultivate support from Tibetan readers.
The Medicine Buddha is worshipped as the great medicine king of the Buddhist pure land who cures ignorance, removes human sufferings, and brings comfort to body and mind. He is believed to prevent humans from the causes of chronic illness, disabilities, and ignorance. In this case, ailments are cured not from the physical body but from the mind or character of the affected person. Once cured, a person can respond better to Buddhist teachings.
The theme of Bhaisajyaguru or Medicine Buddha was to inspire a person to become an effective healer by chanting his mantra while preparing medicine. A medical practitioner is asked to visualize his tutelary deity or yi dam rather than meditate on a particular Buddha or deity.
Tibetan medicine was not biased towards a particular religious order and used visualization to develop techniques for medicinal purposes. Therefore, mandalas were painted on the thangkas as a visual aid to the instructions to prepare medicine. The practice of visualization was also believed to enhance the potency of the medicine. The medicine was blessed and consecrated before consumption. In Tibetan medicine, a fine balance was maintained by drawing confidence from religion to create lifesaving compounds without following monastic lineages.
The Bhaisajyaguruvaiduryaprabharaja Sutra, dating back to the 4th-7th centuries CE, points out that the figure of Bhaisajyaguru is of Tibetan origin and was present before Buddhism arrived in Tibet. A 9th-century image of Bhaisajyaguru or the Medicine Buddha discovered at Khocho establishes the influence of Central Asian painting on Tibetan artists who adopted thangkas as a medium of their expression.
Devotees are required to place themselves facing the thangka or sit in the same posture as the religious figures shown in the thangka. According to the Dalai Lama, they must prostrate before the deities, address their prayers to each of the Eight Medicine Buddhas, recite mantras and auspicious verses, ask for pardon and refuge, give offerings, pray to dharma, and declare merit.
Lay Tibetans consulted lamas or Tibetan priests to choose appropriate deities for overcoming obstacles, ensuring good health, longevity, prosperity, earning religious merits, and facilitating the transition of deceased souls. Visualizing deities is a religious practice linked to esoteric Buddhism, and medicinal thangkas serve as aids in these rituals. Deities like Goddess Tara and Bodhisattva Amitayus, representing protection, compassion, and long life, were painted according to strict iconographic rules to support meditation.
In some cases, wrathful deities such as Vajrapani, who was Lord Buddha’s warrior guard, were worshipped to seek protection and ward off the evil eye. The monastic lineages and assembly trees of Tibetan monastic sects featured in medicinal thangkas depict the close association between religion and politics. Since medical knowledge was dispensed by the political head of the state, the subject of medical thangkas had a close relation with Tibetan Buddhism.
Though medicinal thangkas were primarily used for instructional purposes, their religious significance cannot be undermined. Tibetans continued to place their trust in the Eight Medicine Buddhas to alleviate their physical ailments. Ferocious-looking deities depicted in thangkas continued to provide protection and religious succor. Therefore, medicinal thangkas highlight the interconnectedness of spirituality, medicine, and well-being within Tibetan culture, emphasizing the holistic approach to health and the integration of body, mind, and spirit.
Picture Credit : Author
