Brave Tibetans and their bewitching art

By Anupama Mahajan

AFTER the Chinese occupation of Tibet and the flight of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to India in 1959, about 85,000 Tibetan refugees followed him to this country. Dharamsala is one of the many scattered Tibetan refugee settlements as a homogeneous commonality which allows them to nuture their own culture, language and traditions. Rehabilitation of these refugees in exile is of utmost importance so as to make them self-supporting. There is a constant influx of more refugees who escape from Tibet due to incessant tyranny and violation of human rights.

Once you go beyond Dharamsala, you are in the little Tibet in India. The Government of Tibet-in-exile has an infrastructure of economic build-up, which has become a way of life for attaining economic freedom. As soon as you reach the Department of Information and International Relations, one comes across various cafes’ and restaurants serving typical Tibetan cuisine at reasonable rates. As you climb the steep road, one reaches the library of archives and the museum. The museum contains many busts and small statues of teachers and poets relating to 10th and 11th centuries. They are decorated with blue beads in brass dressed in impeccably embroidered brocade silk. It also has thunderbolts and vajrakilas of early dates found in caves used in Tantric ceremonies. There is a beautiful statue of Goddess Tara and her palace also. There is a unique specimen of wood-carved altar. The deity of compassion is 11-headed and eight-armed.

An inimitable practice was seven bowls of holy water being offered to God. As the lama at the museum explained, the first bowl symbolises early morning worship. The second denotes repenting your misdeeds, whereas the third bowl is an offering to Buddha. The fourth bowl of holy water connotes the appreciation of other’s efforts. The fifth bowl represents a prayer to Gautama Buddha not to pass away and to remain immortal in the hearts of his followers. The sixth bowl personifies all His preachings, and the last seventh bowl reflects that our good deeds must help all.

Close to the museum is another impressive building of the Tibetan Medical and Astro Institute. Tibetan medicine is secular and its antecedents are simultaneously traced to both Indian Buddhists, indigenous Bonpo and various folk medical practices of Central Asia, including that of Persia and China. Buddha spent four years "in the forest of medicine". He attained medical knowledge from rishis, who are given special status in the medical lore of the Buddhists.

Tibetan medicine basically emphasises the influence of the cosmic physical energies of space (Nam-mVcha), air (rlug), fire(Me), water (Chu) and earth (Sa) upon the three main psychophysical processes of rlung mkhris - pa and Bad-kas. These energies are the very basis of matter and are fundamental to the understanding of the physical processes of the disorders, the material aspects of the mind, body, entity and basic Tibetan pharmacology.

Tibetan medicine, as opposed to the modern concept of life, views the human organism as a composite whole of both mind and matter. The pathogenesis of all mental afflictions are traced to past karmic propensities brought about by the ignorance of not being able to fathom the non-existence of an independent self (Ma - rig - pa), and this in turn creates clinging to the self (Dag-Dzin) along with all the negative mental events of attachment, greed, desire, hatred, spitefulness, lust, delusion and so on. So, mind is matter and matter is mind. It is the mind that is supreme as it continues with its journey even though the body finally disintegrates. Tibetan medicines proclaim eradiction of the disease from its root. There are at present 35 Tibetan medical and astro institutes in India.

Further when I reached McLeodganj, I went to the Tibetan Handicraft Centre which was established in 1963 where Tseten Phuntsok, the manager, said that there were over 200 registered members and over 200 dependents. Its marvellous how this society is helping Tibetan families to survive by providing them work, and also simultaneously preserving their culture in the field of carpet-weaving and tailoring. Accommodation is allotted to the families according to the number of members of the said family at a subsidial rent of Rs.20 per month. The society gets aid mostly from an Indo-German organisation. Share of profit is distributed to the society’s members on the basis of profit incurred by it. The workers get paid on a contract basis with the motto of ‘more production, more payment’. The Tibetan handknitted woollen carpet lasts at least for 30-40 years. They also produce a wide range of shirts in assorted fabrics, handknit woollen sweaters, jackets and cotton woven travel shoulder bags. The organisation ships the orders via air or sea also.

But what is most upsetting is as Phuntsok revealed that the teenagers are not at all serious about their career. Most of them are dropouts from school. Due to bad influence of some foreigners, the young get caught in the dangerous web of drugs. They are restless and get distracted soon enough not to stick to any one job. Their marriages are love-cum-arranged at an early age. Many of young men who get disillusioned with life turn to convents to become nuns, as a result of which the nunneries are full. Marriages takes place among flowing wine, cakes, brocade scarves, silk dresses and merry-making. Divorces seem to be quite unique as there’s no legality involved and it’s up to the couple to live separately if they decide to do so. The norm is that the son stays with the father and daughter goes with the mother. Dowry is not a stigma, and neither is drinking amongst women.

On the way back, last but not the least was the stop at Norbulingka Institute. Its sole aim is to entreasure and sustain Tibetan culture, in its artistic and literary forms during this critical period of Chinese occupation of Tibet. Since the monasteries of Tibet served as centres of learning and arts flourished under their patronage, the Norbulingka Institute accepts as many newly arrived Tibetan refugee students as can be accommodated and supported by it.

As soon as one steps through the front door, it impresses one’s deepest aesthetic sense with its fine brass work. One has to command its architects Kazuhiro and Maria Nakahara, who have integrated Tibetan styles with the natural elements. The ground plan is based on the proportions of Avalokiteshwara, the Bodhisatva of compassion and patron deity of Tibet. The temple is at the head of the deity, the east and west wings represent his 1000 arms, the various workshops of crafts the lotus he stands on, and the small round pool in the courtyard marks the point where his hands join at the heart.

The very famous Thanka paintings are made here on cotton cloth which is first treated with glue. Colours used are made out of stone and other natural minerals. The students of Thanka are trained for six years. All paintings made here are on order at an estimated cost of $400, and a wall painting’s cost goes upto $5000 which takes about two-three years to make. In the tent-making section, which also is an old Tibetan craft, applique work is done on the tents using Chinese designs. Applique work is also done with pieces of brocade pasted to make a wall painting.

One comes across one which was almost complete and was on order of a lama going to a monastery in Sikkim. The designs are first drawn on a stencil and then cut and sewn in lovely golden colours. The threads which are used on these paintings are made with a special thread of horse hair wound with silk thread.

The Academy for Tibetan Culture teaches Tibetan philosophy, language, literature, Buddhism and Sanskrit. The idol of Buddha, which was installed at the institute, was sculpted there itself. The idol is supposedly hollow from inside and stuffed with old scriptures written on rice paper. The statue itself is 14 ft high.

Wood carving done here is absolutely breathtaking. There are various chests and temples made here worth Rs 8,10,000 for each peace. Thrones for His Holiness are carved here. Metal workshop had the artistes making metal-sculpted faces of deities. The artistes have already made about more than 100 odd pieces of many deities and gods. Carpentry workshop has its own magic of making magic lanterns and other pieces of furniture.

The gardens of Norbulingka contain over 70 species of shrubs and trees. Snow water from the Dhauladhar mountains of the outer Himalaya ranges feed the irrigation network in the surrounding fields which run through the institute’s grounds.

The most bewitching art and the last stop found was at the Losel Doll Museum within the institute. It holds the world’s larget collection of famous Losel Dolls. The 140 dolls in 14 displays are dressed in exquisite costumes representing the regional aspects of life. After one comes out of the Norbulingka Institute, one feels a deep sense of gain and enriched from within.

Tibetans are surviving economically on their art and craft. It’s amazing how they have enmeshed traditionalism with modernity even after going through such a torturous phase of life. Many are still escaping from Tibet and joining their fellow Tibetans with every passing day.