The origin of Panchen Lama – Deva Thangka

[Origins of Panchen Lama – Deva Thangka]

Origins of Panchen Lama – Deva Thangka, 18th century, Tibet, cloth, color, 125 cm high, 65 cm wide, 68 cm vertical and 42 cm horizontal. The old collection of the Qing Palace
The diva means “Holy Heaven”, one of the disciples of the Dragon Tree Master, and is the successor and developer of the Middle School. According to the Four Hundred Commentaries, the diva was the son of the king of Maharashigan in Sinhala (today’s Sri Lanka). She began to learn the Brahman teachings, and became a monk after becoming an adult with her teacher, Imativa, and received the specific precepts. He was familiar with the Sanzang, articulate and eloquent. Later, he worshipped Master Longshu as his teacher. He learned many achievements such as Longshu’s core teachings and practices. He won a great victory in debates with foreign monks and became famous. The local people rebuilt the “Qianzhui Tower” to commemorate him. Since then, he has continued to develop the Middle School initiated by Long Shu and has written many books on Middle School
The center of the Thangka is the diva, wearing a Banzhida hat (Banzhida means scholar), looking at the right front, facing the animal’s beard, making a debate with the naked upper body, and sitting on the animal’s leather seat. The dragon tree figure of the guru appears on the upper left, the upper right is the Vajra of the upper music, and the lower right is painted with a four-arm Dharma Protector in the dark sky. This Thangka is framed with gold brocade, with a line of gold at the bottom written in Tibetan, to the effect that: “You are a great master of good conduct, and you should learn from the master of dragon tree, eradicate the heresy in the south, meet the secret master personally, and serve the ciwu people.”