Dharmapala Thangka CentreSchool of Thangka Painting

The central figur of this thangka is Amitabha [Tib.: ’Od dpag med] - འོད་དཔག་མེད་]. Together with Vairocana, Amogasiddhi, Akshobhya, and Ratnasambhava, heb belongs to the five Tathagata Buddhas [also known as Dhyani Buddhas].

He also plays an important role in Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhism, where he is considered the primordial Buddha of the Lotus Family [Adibuddha]. In Tibetan Buddhism, there are various practices for gaining access to the Pure Land of Amitabha, such as the Sablam Phowa. Padmasambhava is regarded in Tibetan Buddhism as an incarnation or emanation of Amitabha.

Amitabha [Tib.: Ce-dpag-med], Buddha of Boundless Life, is closely associated with the Tathagata [also called Dhyanu] Dhyani Buddha Amitayus. As heads of the Padma Buddha family, they are spiritual sources from which emanate the compassionate Buddhisattva Avalokiteshvara and Tara.

He sits in the diamond posture, with both hands flat in the contemplation gesture [dhyâna mudra], holding a vase of elixir of immortaly with a stylized "tree of life" on top of it.

He is surrounded by the four other Tathagata Buddhas Ratnasambhava, Amoghasiddhi, Vairocana und Akshobhya

Depictions of Buddhas with rainbow colors or rainbow lights on their surface have a specific spiritual meaning in Buddhist symbolism, especially in Tibetan Buddhism. The Buddha manifests himself as a being of light, a symbol of the dissolution of material appearance into pure consciousness and emptiness. The rainbow is also considered a symbol of enlightenment.

The central figur of this thangka is Amitabha [Tib.: ’Od dpag med] - འོད་དཔག་མེད་]. Together with Vairocana, Amogasiddhi, Akshobhya, and Ratnasambhava, heb belongs to the five Tathagata Buddhas [also known as Dhyani Buddhas].

He also plays an important role in Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhism, where he is considered the primordial Buddha of the Lotus Family [Adibuddha]. In Tibetan Buddhism, there are various practices for gaining access to the Pure Land of Amitabha, such as the Sablam Phowa. Padmasambhava is regarded in Tibetan Buddhism as an incarnation or emanation of Amitabha.