Spiritual art from Asia has long since fascinated the minds of Westerners, explorers and observers of Oriental culture. But as time progresses, many are coming to realise that art within Asian traditions is about much more than just aesthetic beauty, and is just as much about spirituality in many cases. An example of such Spiritual Art are Thangkas, otherwise known as ‘Tibetan painted scrolls’. As Tibetan Buddhism becomes more popular around the world today, so too is the art and meaning behind thangkas being appreciated more and more. These days, they are not only found in the homes of Tibet enthusiasts and Buddhist practitioners as part of their objects of veneration, but they can also be found in exhibitions and museums. These thangkas, depicting images of various Buddhist deities and their celestial abodes are actually considered to be sacred objects worthy of veneration. In fact, they are known to bestow great blessings to their surroundings and the various sentient beings that inhabit these spaces. For spiritual practitioners, thangkas are important, especially to those nomads who find statues too cumbersome and bulky to travel with constantly. In fact, when His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama fled Tibet for India in 1959, […]