bodhisattva, originally uploaded by rosemanios.

This thangka (Tibetan fresco) has been well preserved for more than 200 years, one of the oldest in the Tibetan world. The colors are all made from natural herbs and minerals. It doesn’t looked as 200 years old to me at all.

The monk told me that during the Cultural Revolution they covered the thangka with mud and painted a giant Mao head on the mud, and so they are saved. Brave and righteous men!Lower Wutun Monastery. Tongren, Qinghai, China, summer 2007.