The Construction of a Yamantaka Mandala - photo
Mandalas are geometric patterns laid out with compasses and chalk lines and then filled in, grain by grain, with sand ground from white marble and colored. The sand is applied with small tubes, funnels and scrapers until the pattern is achieved. Visible for centuries only in Buddhist monasteries, University of Northern Iowa is fortunate to have a mandala in conjunction with the visit by His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
The Yamantaka Mandala lis a cosmic blueprint of the palace of the Conqueror of Death. Elements of the mandala represent the world and the impermanence of human existence; compassion; the various deities of Buddhism and Hinduism; smell, hearing, taste and vision; and fire, earth, metal, water and wood. The construction begins with an opening ceremony and concludes with a ceremony where the mandala is destroyed and the sand is distributed to the audience. A procession is made to flowing water where the remainder of the sand is cast away to symbolize the transitory nature of life.
