Ahead of China’s 12th Cultural and Natural Heritage Day on June 10, Beijing hosted the world’s largest exhibition of Tibetan thangka art on Monday. /CFP
Thangka is a Tibetan Buddhist painting on cotton or silk, usually depicting Buddhist stories or figures. /CFP
The show includes a giant work by Xia Wujiao, who spent seven years painting Five Dhyani Buddhas, measuring five meters long and valued at over 15 million yuan (2.2 million US dollars). /CFP
The 218 works of art exhibited include thangka paintings, Buddhist sculptures and embroideries. /CFP
Though many of them are hundreds of years old, thangkas are generally well preserved because Tibetans used to keep the paintings rolled up in dried places. They are traditionally only displayed for very brief periods on monastery walls as part of religious festivals. /CFP
The thangka exhibition will tour other parts of China, including Shanghai, Guangzhou and Hong Kong. /CFP
