World’s Largest Thangka exhibition in Nepal

The largest thangka painting in the world is set to go on a 3 day city tour in November. The thangka, currently housed in Japan, will be up for display at the Dashrath Rangasala Stadium in the Capital, at the Lumbini Garden in Lumbini and at the Basundhara Park in Pokhara. It had previously been on exhibition at the rangashala on October 2012. The exhibition is organized by the Nepal Council for Preservation of Buddhist Religion in association with the Japan based(NPO)M21 Network and Nepal Tourism Board.

The announcement about the upcoming exhibition was made during a press meet organized at NTB on thursday. The event saw the presence of Surya Bahadur Thakali, chairperson of the Nepal Council for Preservation of Buddhist Religion, Yasutada Katagiri, chairperson of (NPO) M21 Newtwork, and event co-ordinator Prabhat Rimal, along with journalists and thangka enthusiasts. Thangka depicts the life of Gautam Buddha by summarising the life cycle of Buddha in twelve deeds.

Organizers are hopeful that thangka will promote Nepal as a tourism destination round the globe. The thangka exhibition also marks 60 years of diplomatic relationship between Nepal and Japan. Mr Sunil Sharma, executive director of Nepal Tourism Board, echoed Thakali’s sentiment: “The thangka is a pride of our nation. And it is obvious that if we can promote it around the world it can boost the tourism sector; also the exhibit will help to promote Nepal as a safe tourism hub.”

Read the full news here (Source:Kathmandu Post)