Especially, the Tibetan and Newari artstyles come from a time when these cultures were at their peaks. Most of the older surviving scroll paintings are reminders of a period when the rulers and the public were concentrating upon the arts as offerings to the deities. They transcend the material and bring back memories of a people who thought that every incident displayed the mood of the lords in heaven: earthquakes, fire glowing in the kitchen, snowfall, floods, good harvests, sunshine.

The names of the persons who made most of these religious paintings are not recorded. It was perhaps a monk who secluded himself from others for many months, or a yogi deep in conversation with the devas who made some of them.

However, a disciple of the Buddha is given credit for the first serious scroll painting in the thangka genre. In the sixth century BC, it is said, a man Sharipura took exact measurements of the Buddha's features and defined precise colors of his skin. Since then, his standards have been maintained. In the latter years, others students of dharma, following this example, also measured their teachers so that no one would distort their looks in the future.

These measurements have survived until today and the good artist meticulously copies each figure to the millimetre. He or she is not at a liberty to change the details and usually reproduces a mastercopy that has come down through the centuries. To the worshippers, no variation from the assigned scale is acceptable. Scroll paintings that do not follow pre-given directions are useless for religious purposes.

The significance of a thangka or paubha is also increased by the finesse with which each detail is executed and the perfect mixing of the colors helps determine a painting's value. The life-force of deities, it is believed, is brought down to earth by masterfully executed paintings. Since the secret road to their power is like a mathematical formula, the geometry of the painting is very important. Those paintings that are created uncaringly, without painstaking study, are for décor alone. The perfect pieces match the mastercopy exactly and the goodness of the original piece, which has been proven to strongly influence this world, is passed onto them.

This is why the prices of thangkas range so widely, a pretty but roughly done tourist-product may be obtained for about two dollars while a gold-layered masterpiece costs well over 200 dollars. Since the paubha has yet to be fully commercialised, it is costlier.

Even for the excellent artists with years of experience, the making of a scroll painting is a great challenge. Since the shades have to match, stone and vegetable dyes are used in orthodox cases. These dyes bring their special problems. Some stones, like lapis lazuli, are expensive. Others may be hard to obtain or may be difficult to process so that an exact color is achieved. Long hours, experimentation, patience, and expertise, allow for the successful blending of these dyes.

Usually, the material used to paint on is sturdy cotton. However, among the more affluent, silk is preferred as these survive longer-many of the older paintings are made on silk cloth.

The main focus is on a central image. Whether that of the Buddha, Bhairab, or another deity, the face is most important. In the Buddha, there is the expression of serenity so powerful that even looking upon the painting calms the senses. On the other hand, the ferocious expression of the Bhairab-the fangs, the frowning brow, and the glaring eyes-instill fear upon the heart.

There may be a theme to the painting too, for example in the "Wheel of Life." In this painting, the wheel that goes about the Buddha depicts the cycle of life as he envisioned it: a child is born, it grows into a man or woman, ages, dies, and is born again. Another theme depicts the Bhairab in the act of creation: in this pose, he is sexually linked with his consort.

The scroll paintings on sale in Kathmandu contain images of various buddhas, taras, spirits, gods and goddesses. Mandalas, stupas, dorjes, and other religious forces are also seen on them. The religious representation is highly influenced by the Buddhist religion. These works show a strong leaning towards Tantrism as well. On the pieces on display at the Bhaktapur National Museum, Hindu gods make appearances (the museum has some of the most valuable paintings that exist in the world today.)