This is a gorgeous 24 K Gold Kalachakra painting from Nepal. I brought it back with me from my last trip there knowing someone would love to have it. The detail of this painting is truly amazing and I know whoever gets it is going to love it.
Some history of the Kalachakra:
In the year after Shakyamuni Buddha attained enlightenment he was asked by King Chandrabhadra of Shambhala to teach the Kalachacra tantra. The Buddha then manifested himself as the meditational deity in Southern India and gave the full teachings of this tantra. This land became known as the mystical land of Shambala. It is a mythical kingdom surrounded by high snowy mountains somewhere to the north of Tibet. Its people do not suffer from hunger or illness and nothing but happiness prevails. This virtually unobtainable utopia can only be found by people who are sufficiently pure of spirit and free from ignorance. The Kalachakra teaching was then passed down through a lineage of seven kings and 25 propagators.
Journey into the Kalachakra
The Kalachakra Mandala is a Thangka surrounded by fire. Fire in Tantrism means knowledge. Accordingly, without knowledge there is no possibility of arriving at supreme understanding. In the case of the Kalachakra Mandala, fire also means that believers who enter it are purified, and with their passage through the fire, their ego and all their illusions will burn away.
The next layer in from the fire consists a circle of vajras that indicates transition to the world of knowledge. In Tibet and Nepal the vajra is known to be a thunderbolt or diamond that destroys all kinds of ignorance.
Next we have a layer of 8 dharma chakras or wheels referring to Shakyamuni Buddha setting the wheel of the teachings into motion. The letters between the wheels indicate various deities.
Beyond the deity lettering lays the cosmic ocean with entrance gates guarded by chariots. Each gate is colored differently representing the four directions. Once inside the gate one may pass through various layered Stupa squares representing the elements of earth, water, fire, and air.
Finally as one journeys on, he finds himself in the center the cosmic mountain of mount Meru where the gods live. This is also a symbolic representation of ones path toward enlightenment.
I know whoever gets this painting is going to be very happy with it.
No noticaeble flaws and the canvas is very clean
Size: 12.5” tall and 12.5” wide ( 31.8 cm tall and 31.8 cm wide ) including border. 10.4 tall and 10.4” wide ( 26.3 cm tall and 26.3 cm wide ) excluding border.
