of the most unique and exquisite artistic traditions
of Buddhism. In Tibetan, this art is called dul-tson-
kyil-khor, which means "mandala of colored powders."
Millions of grains of sand are laid into place on a flat
platform over a period of days. The lamas begin the work
by drawing an outline of the mandala on the wooden
sand from traditional metal funnels called chak-pur. Each monk holds a
chak-pur in one hand, while running a metal rod on its grated surface; the
vibration causes the sands to flow like liquid.
mandala is used as a tool for healing the earth and its people. "Although
the mandala comes from the oldest Hindu and Buddhist traditions, the
mandala lends itself to modern representations of art in its abstractions
and geometric shapes of the circle, triangle, and square," said Dr. Helen
Asquine Fazio, Special Projects Director of East and South Asia at Rutgers
University in New Brunswick, New Jersey.
is more esoteric highlighting an idea of a deity or sacred symbol. The
mandala created by the lamas at Rutgers University in September 2005
was devoted to Avalokiteshvara, the deity of compassion, in anticipation