Material : Cotton Canvas
Length : 19.5 in
Width : 16 in
Keywords : Wheel of Life Thangka, thanka, standard quality, medium
Date introduced : 05.02.2003


The wheel of Life is considered an endless life cycle of human being. It is believed to have been drawn first by the Buddha himself As seen in the picture, a minister demon, usually identified as Yama the god of death, clutches the whole wheel. In the smallest circle at the centre a pig, snake and cock symbolize the three cardinal sins of ignorance (Pig), anger (Snake) and lust (Cock), and are biting each others tails to show that these evils are inseparably connected. In the narrow circle around the innermost circle the light half at the viewer's left shows figures ascending to higher levels of existence, the dark half at the right shows figures descending to lower levels. The six main segments of the wheel depict the six world existence. In the upper half are the relatively happier realms of the gods, the asuras or demigods and human being. In the lower half are the more wretched realms of the animals, pretas or hungry ghosts, and those tortured in hell.