Page 104 - Bonhams May 11th 2017 London Thangka Collection

This exceptional triptych is a rare visual document illustrating the
complex of philosophies and meditational practices contained in the
Kalachakra Tantra, a Sanskrit text emphasising the importance of
time, cycles and the use of man’s most subtle energies as a means to
transform from mundane existence to enlightened consciousness.
The deity Kalachakra is depicted in the central thangka. Representing
time, omniscience, and Buddhahood, he is depicted in his semi-
wrathful form in with four heads and twenty-four arms, his principal
head and upper body in blue symbolising great wisdom, his red face
representing passion, the white purity. One leg is white and the other
red, denoting two separate halves of the yearly cycle. In union with his
prajña Vishvamata, Mother of the Universe, aware of everything that
is timeless, the deity represents one of the most complex practices of
the Unexcelled Yoga Tantras in Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhism. Flanking
the deities are two scenes, each presumably depicting a Jataka story
from the life of Shakyamuni Buddha, while on the upper register is a
mountainous scene interspersed with recluses and siddhas; the lower
part depicts a monastic complex, possibly Samye, the first Buddhist
monastery established in Tibet in 775 A.D.
The thangka to the left depicts Jambudvipa, the mythical realm
inhabited by ordinary human beings, as mentioned in the inscription
occurring to the lower register. Arranged in a circle of eight sections
bordered by snowy mountains, it encloses Mount Meru flanked by
the Eastern and Western lands. Tsongkhapa, Manjushri, the Indian
philosopher Nagarjuna, Maitreya and Atisha, principal exponents of
the Kalachakra teachings, are depicted on the upper register, while a
cluster of pagodas, possibly those of Dhanyataka (where, according to
Vajrayana oral transmission, the Kalachakra Tantra was first revealed
by the Shakyamuni Buddha) and a mountain identifiable as Potaraka,
Indian prototype of Mount Potala, presided over by Avalokiteshvara,
and a monastic complex occur on the lower register.
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Similarly configured as the terrestrial realm depicted in the previous
work, the mythical land of Shambhala is the focus of the third
thangka. Here, Shakyamuni Buddha taught the Kalachakra Tantra
at the request of King Suchandra, whose palace appears at the
core of the segmented circle. To the upper register, Tsongkhapa
appears in conjunction with Guhyasamaja, Shamvara, Lalacakra
and Vajrabhairava, main protectors of the Gelugpa tradition, while
the lower register depicts a city. A.Neven argued that the city was
identifiable as Tashilhunpo, because of the similarities between its
layout and the description contained in the travel notes compiled by
the British diplomat George Bogle (1746-1781).
From Bogle’s description of Tashilhunpo from 1778 to 1783, together
with the depiction in the thangka of the Third Panchen Lama’s tomb,
A.Neven argued that this work would have been completed shortly
after the death of the Third Panchen Lama in 1780, who was highly
regarded as the renovator of the Kalachakra teachings.
The meticulous attention devoted to the naturalistic depiction of
brilliantly large landscapes, receding planes, rounded hills and genre
scenes, would seem to place these superb thangkas within the
painting tradition of the Tsang province of Central Tibet.
A comparable example of a thangka depicting the mythical land
of Shambhala, 19th century, is in the Rubin Museum of Art, New
York, acc.no.F1997.38.02, illustrated on Himalayan Art Resources,
item no.563; another thangka of Shambhala, 18th century, is in the
Museum der Kulturen, Basel, illustrated on Himalayan Art Resources,
item no.3313853.
A single thangka of Kalachakra and Vishvamata, 18th century, was
sold at Christie’s New York, 18 March 2015, lot 4042.