Thangka Painting School:
 The Thangka Painting School at the Arya Tara School, Pharphing saw its official inauguration on the 25th April 2007 amidst distinguished guests and well wishers of the Nuns Welfare Foundation of Nepal. Our Thangka painting teacher, Mr Temba Chompel arrived at the Arya Tara School on the 11th June 2007 all the way from Dharamsala, India. He is a proficient thangka painter graduated from Jhongsh Monastery and has over two years of professional teaching experience in thangka painting. Officially the first batch of 12 students of the Arya Tara School started their classes from the 20th June 2007. These twelve students attend a two hours of thangka painting classe everyday, Sunday to Friday from 4:30- 6:30 PM. This program is sponsored by Kinderhilfe Nepal and is an initiative of its President, Edda Wolfe to promote learning of this art form amongst the nuns of Nepal.
The Sacred Art of Thangka Painting:
A Thangka is a painted or embroidered banner which was hung in a monastery or a family altar and carried by lamas in ceremonial processions. Thangkas are painted on cotton canvas with water soluble pigments, both mineral and organic, tempered with a herb and glue solution. The entire process demands great mastery over the drawing and perfect understanding of iconometric principles. The execution of a Thangka painting can be divided into six steps:
Preparation of the painting surface
Tibetan painters pay great importance to the preparation of the painting surface since Thangka paintings are to be rolled up for storage and then unrolled for display. Any sort of defect due to neglect may cause cracks or make the paint peel off. A piece of cotton cloth of slightly open weave is stitched on to a narrow wooden frame along all its four sides. This lightly framed cotton is then tightly stretched over a larger wooden frame or stretcher with a stout thread by a system of crisscross lacing. After setting up the cloth in the frame it is treated from both the front and back with a thin layer of gesso, which is made up of glue and zinc oxide. The canvas is then burnished on both sides with a stone or conch shell to produce a smooth and lustrous surface.
 Drawing
Before sketching different parts of the composition, eight major lines of orientation are drawn. These include a central perpendicular, two diagonals, a horizontal and four outer borders. Now with charcoal or graphite the rough drawing of the deity in full accordance with the canonical proportions is delineated. Within a given composition, the center stage is invariably occupied by the principal personage, while all acolytes and attendants are greatly reduced in size to further emphasize the majesty and enormity of the central figure.
Application of Color
Color is more than a visual proposition in Sacred Buddhist Painting. The five basic colors white, yellow, red, black and green have different symbolic meanings. Black symbolizes killing and anger, white denotes rest and repose, yellow stands for restraint and nourishment, red is indicative of subjugation while green is the known hue of exorcising practices. The palette of the Thangka painters has been classified into 'seven father colors' and one 'mother color'. The seven father colors are: deep blue, green, vermilion, minimum orange, maroon, yellow and indigo. The mother color is white which interacts perfectly with all these hues. The lighter shades resulting from the mixture of 'father' and 'mother' were referred to as their sons. Written evidence from the eighteenth century identifies fourteen such 'sons'.
For any large project, the master painter first visualizes the final color scheme and indicates them on the sketch with an abbreviated notation system.
While applying the colors the painter proceeds from the distant parts to those parts stationed near him.
Shading and Color Gradations
After laying the initial coats of flat color the painter proceeds to apply thin coats of dyes diluted in water. Shading in Tibetan Thangkas is always done to add effects of volume and dimension to the form be it a human figure, an anthropomorphic image of some deity or clouds, water, flames, rocks, flowers, curtains, seats, etc. Cast shadows and highlights are unknown aspects of the pictorial imagery of the Thangka. Very often the empty green field of the foreground is shown fading gradually into the horizon and such effects are obtained with 'wet shading', a technique of gradual blending of two adjoining areas of wet paint.
Outlining
In an essentially linear pictorial expression like the Thangka, the art of outlining plays a significant role. To set off objects from the background or to demarcate subdivisions of a certain form, or to emphasize a swirling mass of flames, painters select the indigo and lac dyes for perfect results.
Finishing Details
At this final stage the facial features are finished and the eyes of the deities are painted. For this 'eye opening' an elaborate consecration ritual on an auspicious full moon day is fixed and only after the vivification ritual does the painter complete the eyes in swift sure strokes. The whites of the eyes are softened with orange and red at the corner ends, eyelid edges are darkened and then the iris is added according to the required stance of the deity. The two most commonly fashioned varieties of eyes are 'bow eyes' and grain eyes' besides a few fearsome looking ones for the wrathful deities.
In order to turn the areas of gold shiny they are burnished gently with an onyx tipped tool after placing a wooden support against the back of the canvas.
Next, the cord fastenings are cut with a knife and the painting is removed from the stretcher. The Thangka is then mounted with Chinese silks. Often the Thangka is provided with a cover of gossamer silk. When the Thangka hangs on an altar the cover is gathered up to the top and acts as a curtain. Two narrow sticks are attached to the top and the bottom so that the Thangka can be easily rolled up for storage or for a journey.
Most Tibetan artists do not sign their works. Every act of creation is considered to be divine with the artist simply serving as a mortal instrument, and so his own identity is inconsequential. Also, attaching one's name to a work is considered an egotistical act, and it is the duty of the artist, like all pious Buddhists, to destroy the ego.
Buddhist Dance Classes:
All the ATS nuns are learning the sacred art of traditional Buddhist dance under the guidance of Prajwal Ratna Vajracharya and his Dance Mandal students. This program is sponsored by ………..( need the name of the sponsor) who in the long run even plans to take some of the nuns for a concert tour in Europe. This ancient ritual dance dates back over more than 1000 years and is a religious discipline of the priests of Kathmandu, who perform the dance as part of their esoteric meditation practices, ceremonies, and rituals.
The deities are described in esoteric Sanskrit songs known as charya-giti, which are sung as accompaniment to the dance. Charya-giti are sung in a variety of raga (melodies) and tala (meters) and are accompanied by small cymbals known as ta and sometimes by a two-headed hourglass drum, or damaru. The songs begin with a flowing raga, followed by a more metrical section that includes description and praise of the deity and usually consists of changing verses and a fixed, repeating refrain. Sometimes a dharani praise invocation, or mantra, is inserted near the beginning or end. Each dance bodies forth a different Buddhist deity, such as Manjushri, Avalokiteshvara, Vajrayogini, or Vajrapani. The central purpose of the dance is to support the Vajrayana practice of deity yoga, or visualizing oneself as a deity. This practice involves a mental process of seeing oneself as having the appearance, ornaments, inner qualities, and awareness of the deity one is envisioning. Technically known as Charya Nritya, which means "dance as a spiritual discipline", this sacred dance form is a meditation discipline, vehicle of bodily and spiritual transformation, and opportunity for an audience to experience a vision of divine beauty.
Dance Mandal: Foundation for Sacred Buddhist Arts of Nepal, established by Prajwal Ratna Vajrachara in 1996, is dedicated to the preservation and promotion of Charya Nritya and the related traditions of instrumental and vocal music, choreography, and the crafts of making the masks, costumes, and jewelry used in the dances. Since its inception, Dance Mandal has performed in Asia, Europe and North America. Dance Mandal offers classes and workshops on this sacred art form. Based in Kathmandu, Dance Mandal has now established a main branch in the United States, where westerners can learn the dance as a spiritual practice as well as a sacred performance art. Prajwal Vajracharya is now based in Portland, Oregon, and regularly offers sacred movement workshops, classes, performances, and traditional initiations and rituals throughout the United States.
Compost Bin:
A compost bin was set up at the school premises under the guidance of Kay Ehrbar from Germany during his stay at the school from June 7th till July 12th 2007. The main purpose of this project was to reuse organic waste as manure for the garden. Kay conducted a few classes on the relevance of the compost bin and the various aspects of composting to the nuns so that they could better understand the composting process and the follow up needed after Kay’s departure. Besides the compost bin, Kay helped bring to light the various pending repair and maintenance work of the school building as well as suggested various ideas to better the facilities both educational, promotional and construction wise.
Barbwire fencing and gate installment:
The entire school premises in Pharphing is now highly secured with the installation of barbwire fencing and two iron gates both at the upper and lower entrance to the school. Moreover, three additional iron slide gates have been installed each at the major entrances of the building for security.
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