Mandala Art

It's called a mandala and in Sanskrit this means circle. (मण्डल) A mandala is a large picture made from colored sand and the dust of precious stones. It is made with sand to show that all things are not here forever and can change. 

Before a monk is allowed to work on the construction of a mandala he must undergo a long period of training. He must learn how to draw all of the symbols and study the related concepts. At the monastery of the Dalai Lama, the Namgyal monastery this training period is three years. 

To make the mandala it is divided up in to four sections and one monk is assigned to each piece. The monks must memorize each detail of the mandala as part of their training. Each mandala is designed on Scriptural texts.

The mandala is always very colorful and shows five colors, white, yellow, red, green and blue. Each of these colors is associated with one of the transcendental Buddha's. White for  Vairocana. The delusion of ignorance becomes the wisdome of reality. Yellow for Ratnasambhava. The delusion of pride becomes the wisdom of sameness. Red for Amitabha. The delusion of attachment becomes the wisdom of discernment. Green for Amoghasiddhi. The delusion of jealousy becomes the wisdom of accomplishment. Blue for Akshobhya. The delusion of anger becomes like wisdom. 

After the mandala is completed it is then destroyed with a single stroke of the hand across the entire image. Then the mandala is sacrificed into the water. This symbolizes that all things do not last forever.