Tashi Gurung

Tashi Gurung is a Thangka and Mandala artist from Lo Manthang, Nepal.
In 1999, Tashi and several other artists began restoring 500-year-old Buddhist murals in local gompas (monasteries). Tashi helped to restore Jampa, Thupchen, Tsarang, and other Buddhist gompas, as documented in the NOVA PBS documentary "Lost Treasures of Tibet".
Tashi then went on several UNESCO-sponsored trips to Bhutan, Nepal, Ladakh in India, Tibet, and Kham in China to take part in the restoration of other Buddhist monasteries.
Inspired by this experience, Tashi traveled to Kathmandu and for 5 years studied the ancient painting and iconography from Master Thangka Painter Mukti Singh Thapa.
Tashi has a small art gallery in his hometown of Lo Manthang. Lo Manthang is only open to tourists 2-3 months a year due to the cold Tibetan winters and long monsoon seasons. Tashi is painting Thangkas in other months and sometimes escapes to the warmer Kathmandu.

All thangkas are hand-painted on cotton cloth. For traditional Mustang Thangkas, Tashi uses local mineral pigments from semiprecious stones like vermillion or orpiment. These are ground into powder for 3 months and then mixed with Yak ghee and water. 24-carat gold is used in some Thangkas as well.
His work is mentioned in the New York Times, BBC, and PBS documentaries and articles.
Publications and Exhibitions:
- NOVA PBS Documentary. "Lost Treasures of Tibet". Original PBS Broadcast Date: February 18, 2003
- New York Times. "Buddhists, Reconstructing Sacred Tibetan Murals, Wield Their Brushes in Nepal." Edward Wong. Feb 24, 2013.
- The Australian Himalayan Foundation and Siddhartha Art Gallery present "Mustang: A Spiritual Odyssey." February 20, 2013. Kathmandu, Nepal.
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BBC Future Earth. "Inside the exquisite Tibetan monasteries salvaged from climate change" by Tulsi Rauniyar. May 1, 2024.
- Galaxy 4k News. Mustang Special. TV Report. March 2022
- Art House SF. "Tashi Gurung - Buddhist Thangka Art" exhibit, January 2025
19 artworks