Tibetan Buddhist Monks to Construct Mandala Sand Painting at Kalamazoo Valley Museum

Tibetan Buddhist monks from Drepung Loseling Monastery will construct a mandala sand painting at the Kalamazoo Valley Museum November 6 – 10, 2019, in partnership with Connecting Chords Music Festival.

From all the artistic traditions of Tantric Buddhism, that of painting with colored sand ranks as one of the most unique and exquisite. Millions of grains of sand are painstakingly laid into place on a flat platform over a period of days or weeks to form the image of a mandala. To date, the monks have created mandala sand paintings in more than 100 museums, art centers, and colleges and universities in the United States and Europe.

Mandala is a Sanskrit word meaning sacred cosmogram. These cosmograms can be created in various media, such as watercolor on canvas, wood carvings, and so forth. However, the most spectacular and popular are those made from colored sand.

The construction will begin with an opening ceremony of chanting and music on Wednesday, November 6, at 12 p.m. Over the next five days, the monks will slowly pour millions of grains of sand carefully into place, resulting in a mandala approximately 4’ x 4’ in size. The public is invited to observe the process during the Museum’s regular hours of operation (9 a.m. – 5 p.m.).

A lecture about the meaning of the mandala will take place on Sunday, November 10, at 1:30 p.m. A closing ceremony will follow at 3:30 p.m., where the mandala will be consecrated and its sand swept up. This is done as a metaphor for the impermanence of life.

Thanks to the venue sponsor, the Kalamazoo Valley Museum, these mandala events are free to the general public.

In conjunction with this mandala sand painting, the monks will be performing a concert of song and dance at the Comstock Auditorium on Friday, November 8, at 7:30 p.m. Ticket information is available at www.ccmusicfest.com.

The Kalamazoo Valley Museum is operated by Kalamazoo Valley Community College and is governed by its Board of Trustees.