The older of two almost identical narrative thangkas illustrating the story of Delok Kunga Rangdol [Late 19th century-Early 20th century]

The older of two almost identical narrative thangkas illustrating the story of Delok Kunga Rangdol ཀུན་དགའ་རང་གྲོལ (Wylie Kun dga’ rang grol), and depicting the Lord of Death and the judgement of the dead, detailing the myriad forms of suffering within the realms of Hell. Size including the cloth surround 118.5 x 86 cm. Width at bottom is 92.5cm. Image (melong) size 76 x 57cm. Finely detailed and in very good condition overall with some paint loss due to creasing which has left narrow splits in the canvas. The central figure is the Lord of Death (Yama or Shinje Choegyal) Age perhaps 100-150 years old. Deloks (Wylie ’das log) are individuals, commonly female, who witness the realms of hell, often because of serious illness, but return to the land of the living to warn of what potentially awaits. This thangka (EAP1016_DLMLG_Tnka-3) is the basis for the almost identical modern copy EAP1016_DLMLG_Tnka-4) Close comparison of the two reveals that the newer thangka has more detail on the lower and upper edges of the frame, suggesting that the new cloth surround on this, the older thangka, is masking out the edge of the painting. This overlap may be a necessary repair, to hold the thangka and cloth surround together if the edge of the painting has begun to deteriorate. The two paintings are identical in their overall structure and almost identical in their minor details but vary in the overall use of colour, the specific colour of several scenes and the depiction of some fine details. . Creation dates: Late 19th / Early 20th century. Custodial history: An object donated to Dolma Ling nunnery by Buchen Gyurme. It probably belonged to one of three Lama Manipa who had fled from Tibet and who continued to perform within the exile Tibetan communities in India and Nepal. These manipa were Buchen Gyurme (Wylie ’Gyur med), Buchen Norgye (Wylie Nor rgyas), and Buchen Passang (Wylie Pa sangs) There is some confusion over the provenance of this thangka and its modern copy. This confusion can probably be explained by the age of the informant and the problem of viewing thangkas on a small laptop screen. I suggest it belonged to the late Buchen Passang and was donated to Dolma Ling, through the intermediary of his friend Buchen Gyurme. According to an interview with Tsering Drolma manipa, the daughter of the late Buchen Passang this thangka belonged to her father and was brought to India from Tibet. (Interview Nov 2018, Paonta Sahib). She stated that the thangka is over 100 years old. Interestingly Tsering Drolma also stated that such thangkas depicting the realms of hell can be used to illustrate more than one Delok tale, eg Delok Karma Wangzin, Delok Lingza Chökyit and perhaps even the story of Guru Chöwang. The confusion arose because the informant suggested that the modern thangka was her fathers, brought out of Tibet. But in fact it was painted after his death. She also suggested that one of these two thangkas was the story of Delok Kunga Rangdol and suggested that the other was the story of Guru Chöwang and yet they are clearly identical. Extent and format of original material: One narrative scroll painting / thangka. Owner(s) of original material: Dolma Ling Nunnery.