Zhaoju WANG
The Buddha Unveiling Festival
Oil on Canvas
1200 X 250 cm
2017
At the beginning of 2016, during the Tibetan New Year, I went to the Labrang Monastery in Gannan to fully experience the unprecedented grandeur of the Sunning of the Buddha Festival, which is still unforgettable to this day! The sacred Labrang Monastery, the streets and alleys, the squares in front of the mountains, were all crowded with people, shrouded in smoke. Riders in bright, splendid attire led the way on horseback, followed closely by monks carrying banners and flags. The monastic band played the low-pitch and melodious Dharma music, with trombones meandering, trumpets whimpering, drums and the music resounding to the heavens. The long procession of lamas carrying the huge, colorful embroidered Buddha image roared along, raising smoke and dust along the way. Devotees by the road bowed their heads in respectful greeting, offering their worship. Where the cavalry marching, the crowd dodged away like splitting silk and parting waves, quickly opening a wide path. On the square, people thronged in splendid attire, waiting for the sacred and profound moment of the Buddha unveiling! What stayed in my memory of the festival was not the moment when the huge Buddha image was unfolded, but the grand scene of nearly a hundred young monks, escorted by the cavalcade, the band, other monks, and devotees, carrying the huge Buddha image, moving majestically towards the Buddha Unveiling Square. The ceaseless roar and the primordial power of the Brahma Pure Land echoed in the air for a long time! That earthshattering momentum and ever-lasting piety deeply shook my soul! If you have experienced or witnessed such an atmosphere, I’ sure you would never forget that stirring scene for the rest of your life! The climax of the Buddha Unveiling Festival was undoubtedly the unveiling of the Buddha, but that scene was calm, while the momentum formed by the procession of the Buddha unveiling manifested the soul-shaking power. This is the strong desire and original intention behind my creation of this painting! Therefore, what I depicted in "The Buddha Unveiling Festival" is not the unveiling of the Buddha, but the process of the Buddha unveiling!