Classification

Thangka can be made in a wide variety of techniques: silk tapestry with cut designs, color printing, embroidery, brocade, applique, and pearl inlay. The content ranges from Buddhas to the history and folk customs of Tibet. Hence the various types.

The common appearance of Thangka, with a scroll at the bottom, is usually 75 centimeters long and 50 centimeters wide. Besides, there is the banner style, and this kind of Thangka is 1.1 meters long and about 3.5 meters wide.

According to the material, Thangka can be divided into two types: one is made of silk and this kind is called gos-thang; the other, called bris-thang, is made of pigment. The gos-thang is printed on the canvas while the bris-thang is painted on the canvas.

1. gos-thang

According to the different kinds of silk, gos-thang can be divided into five classes:

(1) tshem-drub-ma is made of different kinds of silk woven by hand.

(2) lhan-dr-ub-ma or dras-drub-ma: To make this kind of Thangka, different kinds of silk are first cut into different shapes and then connected with needles.

(3) lhan-thabs-ma: This kind is a little similar to the second , but to make this kind of Thangka, different shapes of silk are agglutinated by the glue water.

(4) thag-drub-ma: This is a Thangka woven by hand.

(5) dpar-ma: To make this kind of Thangka, moulding board is necessary to print the pictures into the silk.

The largest Thangka of gos-thang kind is called gos-sku which is too big to be put on. In fact, it is only used at some special religious rituals. In the Potala Palace, there is a gos-sku with a length of 55.8 meters and a width of about 46.81 meters, made during the 5th Dalai Lama period.

2. bris-thang

According to the color of the background, bris-thang can be divided into five classes:

(1) tsho-thang: The background is multi-colorful.

(2) gser-thang: The background is yellow.

(3) mtshal-thang: The background is vermilion.

(4) dpar-thang : The background is black.

(5) dpar-thang: The method making this kind of Thangka is the same as that of water printed.

The largest bris-thang is 3 meters long and 2 meters wide while the smallest one is about 30 centimeters long and 20 centimeters wide.