Early Green Tara by Mukti Singh Thapa (Original Only)

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This lovely painting by master artist Mukti Singh Thapa is of Green Tara, the Buddha of enlightened activity, and is part of Mukti's 'Early Collection.' Tara is the most important goddess in Buddhism and was born from Chenrezig Avalokitesvara's tears of compassion. Green Tara protects practitioners from the eight fears. 

Mukti painted this work in the late 1980s or early 90s. It is not dated or signed, as is the custom when painting religious works. This is because the practitioner is worshipping the diety and the artist's signature is a distraction from that focus.  

It is very interesting to compare this work to our other Green Tara thangka, painted in 2007. In the late 80s Mukti was starting to design a new style that turned the diety to the side, rather than facing forward, opening the painting and allowing it to tell a story. In this older work, Green Tara is in a meditative pose with two followers, and Amoghasiddhi Buddha in the top left.

As with all of the artist's work, it is painted in the traditional manner with mineral pigments on primed cotton canvas. The green body is painted with malachite and the red background is cinnabar, while the jewelry is painted painstakingly with 24 carat gold.

The original thangka, or paubha in Nepal, painting, is available for the curious collector. If you are interested in this original artwork, please email Mahakala@MahakalaFineArts.com and we will share the price as well as more information about this unique piece.


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