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THE ARTS: BHUTANESE ART
The Dragon Uncoils
The 183 artefacts currently on display in Delhi give
a rare insight into the so far insulated Land of the Dragon
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| SCROLL PAINT:
An artist works on a thangka |
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It's called Druk
Yul, the Land of the Dragon, so it's not surprising that most of the art
of Bhutan is based on this scaly mythical creature believed to be as pernicious
as it is compassionate. It's on the shawls, dresses, masks, furniture,
monastic murals, betel leaf containers and embossed wine jars-repeatedly
affirming itself as the sentinel of mountain existence. But at Delhi's
National Museum, where a sequestered version of "The Religious and
Cultural Traditions of Bhutan" with 183 artefacts is currently on
display, Buddhist motifs challenge the dragon in iconographic popularity.
 Mahayana,
the more tolerant form of Buddhism, and Vajrayana, its tantric offshoot,
took roots in Bhutan in the 8th century a.d. when the itinerant Indian
sage Padmasambhava or Guru Rimpoche (who also introduced the religion
to Tibet) made several trips to the region. Later in the 16th century,
ruler Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyel unified Bhutan into a single state and
codified many of the Mahayana teachings and rituals. Some of the images
made during Namgyel's tenure, including a beautifully preserved 16th century
silver and gold statue of a white Tara seated on a circular lotus divan,
can now be seen at the show. There's also a rather grim-looking image
of Pema Lingpa, a 15th century Bhutanese saint, scholar, sculptor, artist
and architect; a 17th century clay image of Namgyel; a gilded copper statue
of the Tibetan monk Tenpai Nyima, a regular visitor to Bhutan; and another
18th century clay figure of Tenzin Rabgye, a religious successor to Namgyel
who built numerous monasteries.
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| SITTING PRETTY:
The early 16 th centuary White Tara made of pure silver |
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Most of the 19 thangkas, never before displayed
outside Bhutan, are huge. The classic is the 18th century 328 cm-long
scroll of Lama Jamgon Ngawang Gyaltshen (1647-1732), whom many Bhutanese
regard as the reincarnation of Buddha Maitreya. Its silk embroidery clusters
the space around the cross-legged Gyaltshen, colouring his lion frieze
throne and the semi-circular line-up of lamas who look down benignly from
the top. There are also rare thangkas of Padmasambhava and his pictorial
biography (a common thangka synthesis) and the cultic Namgyel is again
back in action in a powerful applique work that shows a sermonising gesture
of hands and the trademark beard tickling his chest.
The purpose of the exhibition, organised by
the Union Ministry of Culture and Bhutan's National Commission for Cultural
Affairs, is to show all 13 forms of arts that have been traditionally
classified in the kingdom by the use of live demonstrations as well as
artefacts. For some of the art forms, 20th century touristy duplicates
have been used; others show a more determined procurement effort. The
wood-carving section has some banal utensils, bamboo and cane baskets,
tea strainer and bows and arrows while paper-making and metalware is portrayed
through 17th century handwritten texts and ceremonial daggers and jars.
The textiles display, a mix of old and new, is interesting because it
shows how Bhutanese hierarchy is depicted through colours of the scarves-yellow
for kings and religious heads, orange for ministers, white for district
magistrates and white (with tassels) for the common people.
Through the exhibition (which continues in Delhi
till November 13 and at the India Museum in Kolkata through December),
it also appears that Bhutan is promoting tourism-a difficult move for
a country that till not long ago prided itself on being insulated. Looks
like the dragon is finally uncoiling, a bit.
—Anshul Avijit
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