Sand mandala (Tibetan: དཀྱིལ་འཁོར།, Wylie: dkyil 'khor; Chinese: 沙坛城; pinyin: Shā Tánchéng) is a Tibetan Buddhist tradition involving the creation and destruction of mandalas made from colored sand. Once complete, the sand mandala's ritualistic dismantling is accompanied by ceremonies and viewing to symbolize Buddhist doctrinal belief in the transitory nature of material life.
Historically, the mandala was not created with naturally dyed sand, but granules of crushed colored stone. In modern times, plain white stones are ground down and dyed with opaque inks to achieve the same effect. The monks use a special, extremely dense sand in order to limit interference by things such as wind or sneezes. Before laying down the sand, the monks assigned to the project will draw the geometric measurements associated with the mandala. The sand granules are then applied using small tubes, funnels, and scrapers, called chak-pur, until the desired pattern is achieved. Sand mandalas traditionally take several weeks to build due to the large amount of work involved in laying down the sand in such intricate detail. It is common that a team of monks will work together on the project, creating one section of the diagram at a time, working from the middle outwards.
Themes
The Kalachakra Mandala for instance, contains 722 deities portrayed within the complex structure and geometry of the mandala itself. Other smaller mandalas, such as the one attributed to Vajrabhairava, contain significantly fewer deities and require less geometry, but still take several days to complete. Like all mandalas, these are meant as two-dimensional representations of what is supposed to be a three-dimensional environment. Various buildings have been suggested to be three-dimensional mandalas, such as Borobodur in Java, Indonesia, and the Bayon in Siem Reap, Cambodia, although no academic consensus on either has yet been reached.
Many sand mandala contain a specific outer locality which is clearly identified as a charnel ground.
The colors for the painting are usually made with naturally colored sand, crushed gypsum (white), yellow ocher, red sandstone, charcoal, and a mixture of charcoal and gypsum (blue). Mixing red and black can make brown, red and white make pink. Other coloring agents include corn meal, flower pollen, or powdered roots and bark.
Ritual destruction
The destruction of a sand mandala is highly ceremonial. Even the deity syllables are removed in a specific order[1] along with the rest of the geometry until at last the mandala has been dismantled to show impermanence. The sand is collected in a jar which is then wrapped in silk and transported to a river (or any place with moving water), where it is released back into nature to disperse the healing energies of the mandala to sentient beings in water and throughout the world.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sand mandalas.
January 30, 2023
sand, mandala, tibetan, དཀ, འཁ, wylie, dkyil, khor, chinese, 沙坛城, pinyin, shā, tánchéng, tibetan, buddhist, tradition, involving, creation, destruction, mandalas, made, from, colored, sand, once, complete, sand, mandala, ritualistic, dismantling, accompanied, . Sand mandala Tibetan དཀ ལ འཁ ར Wylie dkyil khor Chinese 沙坛城 pinyin Sha Tancheng is a Tibetan Buddhist tradition involving the creation and destruction of mandalas made from colored sand Once complete the sand mandala s ritualistic dismantling is accompanied by ceremonies and viewing to symbolize Buddhist doctrinal belief in the transitory nature of material life Chenrezig Sand Mandala created and exhibited at the House of Commons of the United Kingdom on the occasion of the visit of the 14th Dalai Lama on 21 May 2008 Contents 1 Materials and construction 2 Themes 3 Ritual destruction 4 Notable sand mandala artists 5 See also 6 References 7 External linksMaterials and construction Edit Tibetan Monk creating sand mandala Washington DC Materials and tools used to create sand mandala Historically the mandala was not created with naturally dyed sand but granules of crushed colored stone In modern times plain white stones are ground down and dyed with opaque inks to achieve the same effect The monks use a special extremely dense sand in order to limit interference by things such as wind or sneezes Before laying down the sand the monks assigned to the project will draw the geometric measurements associated with the mandala The sand granules are then applied using small tubes funnels and scrapers called chak pur until the desired pattern is achieved Sand mandalas traditionally take several weeks to build due to the large amount of work involved in laying down the sand in such intricate detail It is common that a team of monks will work together on the project creating one section of the diagram at a time working from the middle outwards Themes EditThe Kalachakra Mandala for instance contains 722 deities portrayed within the complex structure and geometry of the mandala itself Other smaller mandalas such as the one attributed to Vajrabhairava contain significantly fewer deities and require less geometry but still take several days to complete Like all mandalas these are meant as two dimensional representations of what is supposed to be a three dimensional environment Various buildings have been suggested to be three dimensional mandalas such as Borobodur in Java Indonesia and the Bayon in Siem Reap Cambodia although no academic consensus on either has yet been reached Many sand mandala contain a specific outer locality which is clearly identified as a charnel ground The colors for the painting are usually made with naturally colored sand crushed gypsum white yellow ocher red sandstone charcoal and a mixture of charcoal and gypsum blue Mixing red and black can make brown red and white make pink Other coloring agents include corn meal flower pollen or powdered roots and bark Ritual destruction EditThe destruction of a sand mandala is highly ceremonial Even the deity syllables are removed in a specific order 1 along with the rest of the geometry until at last the mandala has been dismantled to show impermanence The sand is collected in a jar which is then wrapped in silk and transported to a river or any place with moving water where it is released back into nature to disperse the healing energies of the mandala to sentient beings in water and throughout the world Notable sand mandala artists EditLosang Samten Dalai LamaSee also EditSandpaintingReferences Edit Bryant Barry Yignyen Tenzin Samten Lobsang Chogyen Pema Lobsang Gyaltsen Dhondup Lobsang Lhundup Jamphel Migyur Tenzin Legdan Tenzin Gyaltsen Lobsang Kirti Tsenshab Moldow Deborah Durgin Gregory 2003 1992 X et seq Wheel of Time The Visual Scripture of Tibetan Buddhism 2nd ed Ithaca NY Snow Lion Publications ISBN 1559391871 External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sand mandalas Image gallery of the construction of a five and a half foot Medicine Buddha sand mandala Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Sand mandala amp oldid 1124063493, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
