Thangka painting

The thangka painting school was established by Shechen Rabjam Rinpoche in 1996 in response to the urgent need for young artists to receive a complete and thorough training in a pure and authentic lineage of Buddhist sacred painting. Thangkas are Tibetan Buddhist pictorial scrolls, either painted or made of fabric.

Previously in Tibet the main form of painting was Buddhist sacred art. During the 1960’s the ancient traditional arts in Tibet suffered irreparable damage when over 6,000 monasteries and the art works they contained were destroyed during the Chinese Cultural Revolution. In addition to this tragic loss, the degeneration of the authentic Buddhist painting traditions from the whole Himalayan region still continues today, largely because of the commercialisation of thangka production for a tourist market. This means that people without proper training are producing poorly executed thangkas with incorrect iconography. The overall result is that the sacred meaning and purpose of this precious art form is in danger of being lost.

The goal of the school is thus to provide the opportunity for young men and women from the Himalayan region and abroad, to acquire the knowledge and skill to keep alive this sacred tradition from within its proper context of genuine Buddhist practice.