The study on the thangkas of the Epic of King Gesar is in its early stage, but the foundation should laid for further development. The present article is an study of the thangkas of the King Gesar, the Longwang Zunarenqin 龍王祖納仁欽, the Nianqinduojibawaze 念欽多杰巴瓦則and the Zhanshenjiuxiongdi 戰神九兄弟. The following facts were found from the review of the thangkas.
First, rather than emerging suddenly, the King Gesar originated with the shape of the Tibetan traditional god of war, as shown by the King Gesar thangkas in the Sichuan Museum. The thangkas was produced at Dege 德格, west of Sichuan, and characterized by a guardian animal, called ‘wer ma 威爾瑪’ around the King Gesar.
Second, the thangkas in the Sichuan Museum is considered as an artwork that was produced in the era of Qing 淸Dynasty, probably between the 18th and 19th centuries. Therefore, the thangkas is an important artifact that reflects the mindset of the Tibetans before the modern era.
Third, the review of the main characters showed that most of them are in family relations with King Gesar. the Longwang Zunarenqin 龍王祖納仁欽is the dragon king who is the King Gesar’s grandfather on his mother’s side. the Nianqinduojibawaze 念欽多杰巴瓦則is the King Gesar’s older half-brother by different mothers. the Zhanshenjiuxiongdi 戰神九兄弟, which is not related by blood with the King Gesar, is a combination of nine brothers who are the gods of war.
Fourth, most of the top-layer characters are the gods or characters from India or the early Tibetan Buddhists in the 8th century, such as the disciples of Padma Sambhava. One of the outstanding figures is Padma Sambhava, a Buddhist monk from India who played an important role in introducing Buddhism to Tibet. That may be the reason why the top-layer characters include the Mandarewa 曼達熱娃and the Yixicuojie 益西措杰, who were his wives, and the Jiawaqueyang 嘉瓦却央and the Beiruozhena 貝若遮那, who were his disciples.
Fifth, although King Gesar’s character was not influenced by India, the characters related to him were heavily influenced by India. For example, the elephant-like animal Makara, which the Longwang Zunarenqin 龍王祖納仁欽rides on, is from India. the Jiawaqueyang 嘉瓦却央, who is the siddhi of Hayagriva and one of the top-layer characters, must have originated with the siddhi of Hayagriva, a Hindi god from India. These findings suggest that the thangkas in the Sichuan Museum might have been affected by India culture. Considering the transmission through the Silk Road between Tibet and India, the literary interaction between the two countries may be obvious.