A part of the huge piece of Thangka painting [Photo/CRI]
In a workshop far from the noisy urban areas in Tibet, Thangka master Migmar Tsering wrapped up his work with his prentices, making up his mind to make the world's largest barbola Thangka.
Migmar Tsering, 36-year-old, is the sixth generation of inheritor of Zhikung embroidery Thangka, which was inscribed into the List of State Intangible Cultural Heritages in 2008.
In his workshop, pieces of Thangka paintings bearing different images of Buddha were spread out on the ground, each is about one floor high.
So far, most of the components have been finished, and the rest of the work will be completed by the end of this year. By then, they will be assembled into a huge painting with a height of 120 meters and a width of 85 meters.
"The painting consists of 19 images of Buddha and 12 animals." Migmar said.
In order to settle down and get on his work, Migari left bustling Lhasa and seluded himself to a mountain village.
Migmar told the journalist he has dedicated all his energies to this painting in recent years in hope for helping more people outside the region get acquainted with Zhikung embroidery Thangka.
Attracted by the exquisite workmanship of the barbola Thangka, Wang Xiaoyan from Yunnan Province becomes one of Migari's prentices. "We get together for a common purpose-to carry forward the art of Thangka," said Migari.
Just two days ago, Migari got an interest-free loan amounting to 100,000 yuan from the local government. It made him get closer to his dream.
"The government has created ideal conditions for us. As inheritors, it is our duty to pass down and develop the workmanship of Thangka rather than getting benefit from it," Migari said.
In 2005, a total of 40 million yuan was pumped into the preservation of representatives of Tibetan intangible cultural heritages, involving religious and traditional music, Tibetan opera, skills of making Tibetan bangdian, Tibetan knife, kadian, Tibetan paper and so on. With the joint efforts of more than 20,000 artists, the Tibetan intangible cultural heritages have been put under effective protection.
Tangkha, a transliteration of a Tibetan word, refers to a kind of painting scroll mounted on dyed brocade. The Zhikung embroidery Thangka is one of the excellent genres of Thangka and is only passed down to family members.