A traditional thangka is more than the painted canvas. It is sewn into a brocade mounting, usually with two thin strips of red and yellow silk around the image, which are often described as a rainbow framing the scene. The wider brocade below is larger than the part above, and many mountings have a small square of different fabric sewn into it, called the door, through which the viewer symbolically enters the painting.

The thin silk veil that hangs over the front protects the paint from dust, smoke and light, and is tied up with ribbons when the thangka is being viewed or used in practice. Buy authentic thangka painting that comes with a proper mounting and veil if you plan to hang it as a scroll, because the fabric does real protective work for the painting.

Wooden rods at the top and bottom keep the canvas flat, and the bottom rod often has decorated metal end caps.