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About
We are a UK-based company selling quality thangkas worldwide. We are passionate about thangka, and pride ourselves on selling some of the most beautiful pieces you are likely to find online, hand-picked with the greatest care and attention to detail. Our website is a labour of love, and we hope that you will enjoy spending time here learning about thangka and about Buddhism. Our thangkas are sourced from the Kathmandu valley and many are made by some of the greatest artists working in Nepal today.

What are thangka?
Thangkas are scroll paintings; literally ‘something which can be rolled up’. Originally they were used for teaching or ritual purposes by itinerant or travelling monks and pilgrims. Thangkas can be used as an aid to meditation by concentrating on and identifying with the central deity or saint. Increasingly, the aesthetic element has come to the fore, particularly in Nepalese thangka, and it is now possible to buy thangkas which are both authentic and of incredible artistic merit, often taking months and sometimes years of work by individuals or groups of artists. Traditionally, thangka painters do not sign their pieces, but we have tried where possible to let you know the artist’s name, both to give credit where credit is due and to allow you to request more work by artists whose work you value.

Thangkas are generally painted on canvas using a variety of paints. Traditionally stone colours were used to make the paint, but this is increasingly rare, despite what many unscrupulous thangka shop owners may claim!! Nowadays all kinds of paints are being experimented with, sometimes to great effect. However, if we tell you that a painting is done with stone colours, you can be sure that it is.

Requests, brocades and commissions:-
Should you have a request for a particular kind of thangka which you do not see on our site, please contact us, as we can obtain a full range of thangkas in all styles and to suit any budget. We can also arrange for your thangka to be brocaded – just ask – but all the thangkas here are without brocades so that you have a choice between brocading and framing. With high quality thangkas most people prefer to frame rather than brocade, either for aesthetic reasons or to better protect the artwork. Thangkas can also be commissioned as per your requirements of size, style, artist and subject.