Wednesday 18 March 2015

Tibetan Sand Paintings

Hi guys!

So the other night i was getting my daily fill of the new TV Series 'House of Cards' (do you guys watch it? I totally LOVE it. I was a bit sceptical of Spacey's southern accent at first but....hey. the guys a genius) And in the most recent episode i've watched there was some Tibetan monks making a sand painting all the way through, stationed in the White House. I was totally blown away!!! I'd never seen anything like it before. I immediately picked up my phone (isn't it crazy we can just get any information we need at a click of a button? Gone are the days of rummaging through encyclopedias and dictionary's!) And googled it.

Source: Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/149674387587676263/

So basically the monks begin by tracing an outline for the Mandala, and then layer coloured sand to form the beautiful painting, using metal, flute like instruments called chak-purs. In Tebetan this art is called dul-tson-kyil-khor, which translates as "mandala of the coloured powders". The paintings can take anywhere from days to weeks to complete. 

After the paintings are painstakingly constructed, they are deconstructed almost immediately after completion! This is carried out as a metaphor of the impermanence of life and to remind us nothing is forever. The sand is swept up and place in an urn. Half is given to the audience of the closing ceremony, and then half is carried to a nearby body of water released to be carried throughout the world for 'planetary healing'.

Source - https://www.pinterest.com/pin/515240013595247417/

I found this video on youtube of a timelapse of the construction of a Mandala. I hope you all find this as inspiring as i do!



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