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- fundamental principles of Tibetan Buddhism and its ritual representation can be used for teaching the illiterate.
Another common motif in Tibetan art is the mandala, known in Tibetan as Kyilkhor, meaning �circle round a central point.� It looks like a ring or circle containing a symmetrical walled palace with gates on the four sides surrounding a vast array of peaceful and wrathful deities. The mandala is a mystical geometric diagram which serves as a condensed image of the metaphysical concept of the universe during meditation, and symbolized the order and harmony achieved by a truly enlightened mind, who can mentally enter the centre to achieve a state of unity with the central deity. The main deity in the centre, with whom the worshipper must identify, is accompanied by other related deities and guardians. Each area within the mandala has a symbolic meaning and represents the manifold worlds and systems in the universe. There are several ways of representing mandalas: with coloured sand; in paintings giving an aerial view [22,23]; and by three-dimensional casting in metal. It should be pointed out here that the layout of some Tibetan temples also follows the design of a mandala.
The stupa or choten is another popular architectural theme depicted in Tibetan art. These cylindrical or hemispherical towers serve as Buddhist shrines or reposi�tories of sacred relics and texts. They range in size from small altar pieces to large architectural monuments [58].
Painting
The most spectacular visual portrayals of Tibetan art come in the form of two types of painting: murals, which cover the walls of monasteries and temples, and banner scroll paintings called thankas (from the Tibetan thang yig meaning �annal� or �written record�).
In the years following the 1950 Chinese Communist conquest of Tibet, more than six thousand Tibetan monasteries and temples along with their magnificent ancient wall murals were utterly destroyed. The handful of monasteries adorned with wall murals, which were spared, attest to the former magnificence of this art form in Tibet, and reveal to us the tremendous art legacy which has been lost to the world as a result of the actions of the Communist Party of China. Fortunately, huge numbers of Tibetan thankas have survived in Tibet, and in museums and private collections throughout America and Europe.
Thankas are the most popular form of Tibetan painting and once could be found hanging everywhere in Tibet�in monasteries, temples, palaces, forts and private homes. Sometimes they are carried in religious processions, and some of gigantic proportions, several storeys high, are unrolled during special religious festivals. This custom is popularly referred to as �sunning the Buddha.� As was mentioned earlier, the wide range of subject matter for paintings consisted entirely of religious themes and covered a wide range of forms and intentions, illustrating almost every conceivable nuance of religious thought, expressing seemingly limitless levels of philosophical and yogic meanings. The depiction and ideal proportion of the deities in these hanging scrolls was subjected to rigid codification dictated by innumerable iconographic manuals from India which contained detailed descriptions of the divinities. As a result of this stereotyped copying, it is often difficult to place an exact
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