Dorje Drolma, the only woman Thangka painter in Qinghai Province, focuses on a new piece of Thangka painting devotedly on Nov. 8, 2011.[Photo/China Tibet Online] 

For Tibetans, traditionally, Thangka painting is only passed down to monks or males in the family, whereas a Thangka master walks by the traditon and teaches Thangka skills to his daughter for the better inheritance and development of the Thangka art.

Thangka master Sangdor from Tongren County of Huangnan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture has been determined to make her daughter Dorje Drolma the only woman Thangka painter across the northwestern Qinghai Province.

"In the past, Thangka painters were always the art monks in the monasteries. Even if a common people learned the technique, his works had to win the recognition of the local dignitary lamas or Buddhist celebrities," said Sangdor.

Tongren County is home to Regong Art, where every family is an art academy and everybody is a Thangka painter. However, it is unimaginable for a woman to draw Thangka painting.

When asked why he decided to break the traditional rule, Shangdor said he believed her daughter could be trained as a good painter. Since early childhood, Drolma was very interested in Thangka painting and always painted for seven or eight hours without a rest.

In Sangdor's mind, woman is more careful in painting and can better inherit the traditional Thangka technique. So the father decided to call on a Rin-po-che in a local lamasery about whether a girl could paint Thangka. The Rin-po-che gave him a positive answer.

Therefore, early at 13 years old, Drolma began to follow her father in Thangka painting and then becomes the first woman Thangka painter.

Now, the 25-year-old Drolma is famous for her excellent painting works which are harmoniously and mysteriously styled with finely dedicated coloring. She is now popular among the Thangka buyers across the world, even more popular than his father.

"She has a kind of inner peace, which is extremely needed in Thangka painting to show respect to Buddhist doctrine," the father said happily and proudly.