Sand Mandalas are Created Through This Beautiful Tibetan Art Form

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Mandalas are symbols that represent the universe through the religions of Hinduism and Buddhism. The word mandala means “circle” in Sanskrit, and the designs consist of concentric circles and other geometric figures. Traditionally, mandalas were created with crushed colored stone, but in today’s Tibetan Buddhism, colored sand is used for this purpose.

But more recently, in addition to it being a form of spiritual awakening, it’s evolved as a form of artistic beauty for us Instagrammers to love and appreciate.

Before each sand mandala is created, the monks have an opening ceremony with mantras and music. They then measure and draw the mandala outlines on a flat surface using a pencil or a piece of chalk. After they have the floor plan ready, they can start creating the design with grains of colored sand.

In order to achieve precision, they use narrow metal funnels for placing the sand. The designs are beautifully complex and colorful. It takes a lot of time to create each one, and yet they have a very short life. This is because the monks destroy them in order to symbolize that nothing lasts forever.