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You are here: Home > Amulets, Thogchags, Lingam, Tsakli & Miniature Paintings > Tsakli & Miniature Paintings

Here you will find antique Tsakli paintings or initiation cards from Tibet. This category also includes miniature paintings from Mongolia that were designed to be housed in
a portable shrine or an amulet known more widely as a gau . They are similar in appearance to Tibetan thangkas or Tsakli initiation cards but they should be recognised as a unique form of Vajrayana art. In Mongolia they are known as "Burhany Zurag".

Tsakli are traditionally assembled into sets and may represent Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, Yidams,
Gurus, mantras, sacred symbols and ritual implements. They are an important visual aid when conferring empowerments. The vast majority of these images are painted on cloth.

Many Mongolian miniature paintings were actually worn in an amulet box or portable shrine for protection and spiritual blessings. Indeed this is one of the main reasons they are much smaller than traditional thangka paintigs.

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Antique Copper & Silver Gau with painting
Antique Copper & Silver Gau with Miniature Painting of the Medicine Buddha
Our Price: £395.00

This is a beautiful large glass fronted gau that includes a hand painted miniature thangka (Burhany Zurag) of the Medicine Buddha. The gau has a copper back and silver front.

width 59 mm
height 70 mm
Medicine Buddha Burhany Zurag = mid 19th/ early 20th century
Gau = late 19th/early 20th Century
Large Copper Gau with Miniature Painting
Large Copper Gau with Miniature Painting of Buddha Shakyamuni
Our Price: £220.00

This is a beautiful large glass fronted copper gau that includes a hand painted miniature thangka of Buddha Shakyamuni.

width 81.08 mm
height 87.96 mm
late 19th/ early 20th century
Antique Burhany Zurag of Green Tara
Antique Miniature Painting of Green Tara with 21 Emanations
Our Price: £108.00

A very nice miniature Vajarayana painting that would be known in Mongolia as a " burhany zurag". This piece represents the female Buddha Green Tara with her 21 emanations. Small paintings such as this would have been kept on a shrine or worn in a gau as part of a personal protective amulet.

Origin: Mongolia
Condition: Good with some weathering.
Age: Mid 19th Century to Early 20th Century
height = 195 mm
width = 150 mm
Antique Miniature Painting of Buddha Shakyamuni
Antique Miniature Painting of Buddha Shakyamuni
Our Price: £108.00

A very nice miniature Vajarayana painting that would be known in Mongolia as a " burhany zurag". This piece represents the Buddha Shakyamuni. Small paintings such as this would have been kept on a shrine or worn in a gau as part of a personal protective amulet.

Origin: Mongolia
Hand painted on cloth
Condition: Very Good with minor weathering.
Age: Mid 19th Century to Early 20th Century
height = 190 mm
width = 140 mm
Antique Miniature Painting of the Medicine Buddha
Antique Miniature Painting of the Medicine Buddha
Our Price: £108.00

A very nice miniature Vajarayana painting that would be known in Mongolia as a " burhany zurag". This piece represents Sangye Menla, the Buddha of Medicine. Small paintings such as this would have been kept on a shrine or worn in a gau as part of a personal protective amulet.

Origin: Mongolia
Condition: Very Good with minor weathering.
Age: Mid 19th Century to Early 20th Century
height = 103 mm
width = 88 mm
Antique Miniature Painting of Manjushri
Antique Miniature Painting of Manjushri
Our Price: £108.00

A very nice miniature Vajarayana painting that would be known in Mongolia as a " burhany zurag".  This piece represents Manjushri in his dark blue form. Small paintings such as this would have been kept on a shrine or worn in a gau as part of a personal protective amulet.

Origin: Mongolia
Condition: Good with some weathering.
Age: Mid 19th Century to Early 20th Century
height = 130 mm
width = 95 mm
Antique Miniature Painting of White Tara
Antique Miniature Painting of White Tara
Our Price: £75.00

A very nice miniature Vajarayana painting that would be known in Mongolia as a " burhany zurag".  This piece represents White Tara. Small paintings such as this would have been kept on a shrine or worn in a gau as part of a personal protective amulet.

Origin: Mongolia
Condition: Good with some weathering.
Age: Mid 19th Century to Early 20th Century
height = 170 mm
width = 120 mm
Antique Miniature Painting of Six Armed Mahakala
Antique Miniature Painting of Six Armed Mahakala
Our Price: £70.00

A very nice miniature Vajarayana painting that would be known in Mongolia as a " burhany zurag". This piece represents the Six Armed form of Mahakala. Small paintings such as this would have been kept on a shrine or worn in a gau as part of a personal protective amulet.

Origin: Mongolia
Hand painted on cloth
Condition: This piece displays some weathring and loss of paint.
Age: Mid 19th Century to Early 20th Century
height = 190 mm
width = 140 mm
Antique Miniature Painting of Je Tsongkhapa
Antique Miniature Painting of Je Tsongkhapa
Our Price: £60.00

A very nice miniature Vajarayana painting that would be known in Mongolia as a " burhany zurag". This piece represents the Great Je Tsongkhapa, whose vast Dharma activities led to the formation of the Gelugpa school.

Origin: Mongolia
Condition: Very Good
Age: Mid 19th Century to Early 20th Century
height = 87 mm
width = 70 mm
Antique Miniature Painting of the Three Bodhisattvas
Antique Miniature Painting of the Three Bodhisattvas
Our Price: £60.00

A very nice miniature Vajarayana painting that would be known in Mongolia as a " burhany zurag". This piece represents the three Bodhisattvas Chenrezig,  Vajrapani (bottom left) and Manjushri (bottom right) . Small paintings such as this would have been kept on a shrine or worn in a gau as part of a personal protective amulet. The mantra Om Ah Hung has been drawn on the reverse three times.

Origin: Mongolia
Condition: Good with some weathering.
Age: Mid 19th Century to Early 20th Century
height = 195 mm
width = 150 mm