He is usually portrayed seated on a gazelle skin over a lotus seat with curly hair and dressed in monastic garments. He is usually depicted as here with his right hand held behind his ear as though listening to the sounds of poetry. In his left hand he balances a begging bowl.

This thangka is unmounted and suitable for framing. Including the border it measures 16" by 22". This thangka is part of a series of meticulously rendered thangkas painted largely in 24-caret gold paint with additional muted colors. The gold has been burnished until it shines, producing a striking effect when the thangka is view first hand.

As our name implies, Himalayan Antiques specializes in dealing in antiques from the region, but in the course of our annual buying trips we have become friendly with one of the leading dealers in Kathmandu of new thangka paintings. This family employs a number of the most skillful artists in the field, and we always purchase several new thangkas just to meet the needs of customers.

This year we looked over hundreds of thangkas to make our selection of just a few dozen. The range of qualities is extensive. The best thangka painters work almost exclusively on consignment and the are often booked years in advance. The least talented painters churn out large numbers of small and simple thangkas to be sold to tourists for a few dollars each. In between these extremes is a wide range of qualities and levels of artistry. Better artists are usually given larger canvases with more detailed and complex designs and are allowed more of the costly 24k gold to work with. It is testimony to the skill of the artist who painted these thangkas that he was allowed to use gold paint throughout.