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Karma Gardri Painting Style Brought to India
To maintain and preserve the Karma Gardri lineage, Tibetan artists attempted to gather together as many of the remaining resources as possible so that they could continue this Sacred art form as refugees in India. One of the great artists of Tibet was Gega Lama, born in the year 1931 AD, in the small village of Rinchen Ling in the district of Upper Lingkar, Eastern Tibet. At the age of eight he began studying Tibetan calligraphy with Lama Drontsay, and at eleven years of age he entered the monastery of Chokor Namgyal Ling at Tsatsha, where he studied Buddhist doctrine, dance, painting and music.
Gega Lama’s first painting teacher was Lama Chokyong. Gega Lama was immediately and intensely drawn to the medium of painting, and in the year 1947, the sixteen year old Gega Lama sought out the greatly respected master Thangka painter, Lama Thangla Tsewang of Palpung Monastery. After five years, at the age of 22, Gega Lama was recognized as an artist in his own right.
When he was no longer able to remain in Tibet, Gega Lama faithfully carried the art of Thangka painting to India. During his many fruitful years in India, he rebuilt the invaluable body of diagrams and methods necessary in the painting of Tibetan Thangkas. Also at this time he taught many devoted students.
Jamyong Singye, student of Gega Lama for five years, was one of Gega Lama’s most devoted students. Singye has faithfully preserved the strict traditions of proportion, diagram and color, and has remained faithfully accurate to the content of the sutras and tantras as they have been handed down through this unbroken chain of lineage holders. Singye has carried this sacred art around the world, and especially to the United States where he currently teaches. ☼
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