MANDALA SAND PAINTING

Painting with colored sand ranks as one of the most unique and exquisite traditions of Tantric Buddhism. Mandala is a Sanskrit word meaning cosmogram or “world in harmony”. It takes millions of grains of sand, painstakingly laid into place on a flat platform over a period of days or weeks.

The monks begin with an opening ceremony to consecrate this site of the mandala. 

This event is visually and acoustically striking.

Making of the Mandala

Immediately after the opening ceremony the monks start drawing the line design for the mandala. Never will the expressions of artistic talent have such an impact on your life as viewing the mandala. In Tibetan it is called dultson-kyll-khor (which means mandala of colored powders). Throughout its creation, the monks poor millions of grains of sand from traditional metal funnels called chakpur.

Construction of the Mandala begins at the center and works outward, as the mandala is made in the spirit of impermanence a non-attachment, to be washed away. In this the Tibetan monks build a planetary piece, a grain of sand at a time.