2026-05-09T06:21:23Z

Four Harmonious Friends

Abstract Or Scope

This thankga, titled Four Harmonious Friends or The Delightful Tale of Honoring the Age, depicts the tale of the four harmonious animals, one of the widely preached Jataka tales, a significant part of Buddhist mythology. It depicts an elephant standing under a fruit tree carrying a monkey, a hare and a bird on top of each other. The story tells of four animals, all close friends: a partridge, a hare, a monkey, and an elephant. They lived beneath a large banyan tree. Out of curiosity, they wanted to figure out who was the oldest among them. To determine who was the eldest, they discuss their memories of the oldest tree and then order themself by age. The bird, recognized by the other animals as the oldest, sits on top. The four animals lived together in co-dependence and cooperation, helping each other to enjoy the fruits of the tree.