Text for Mandala Presentation PTA Art Appreciation,...

Text for Mandala Presentation PTA Art Appreciation, Spring 2016

Slide 1: Contemporary Mandala • Do you recognize this? • What do you see here? This is a modern mandala that you might see in a coloring book. The mandala design is universal and is seen in many different cultures and countries around the world. A mandala is a complex abstract design that is usually circular in form and, in fact, “mandala” is a Sanskrit (language spoken in India) word that means “circle”. Today we are going to talk about mandalas that are from the Himalayan region of South Asia, where making mandalas has been a rich part of their art and culture for hundreds of years. Slide 2: Map of South Asia Before we start talking about mandalas, let’s take a moment to find the Himalayan region of South Asia on the map. Nestled on the border between India and China are the Himalayan Mountains. The Himalayan Mountains are a long mountain system, which boasts some of the highest mountains in the world, including Mount Everest and K2. The Himalayans cover many different countries, including Pakistan, India, Bhutan, Nepal, and Tibet (an autonomous region in China). Slide 3: Taktsang Palphug Monastery in Bhutan A religion called Buddhism began in the Himalayan Mountain region thousands of years ago. Creating mandalas is a very meaningful art form for Buddhist monks, followers of this religion. Here is a picture of a Buddhist monastery in the Himalayan Mountains Slide 4: Amitayus Mandala Thangka, 14th Century, Tibet • Does this look the same or different from the mandalas you usually see? • How is it similar and how is it different? • What shapes, patterns, and designs do you see here? • What are the predominant colors in this mandala? Mandalas come in many forms. They can be painted on temple walls or on scrolls, which can be rolled up and taken with travelers over long distances. These are called Thangkas. The mandala in this image is a Thangka from Tibet. A mandala is an ancient art form that features geometric patterns of circles and squares radiating out from a central point and incorporates layers of symbolism and a variety of colors. Inside the innermost circle, the creator places an image or symbol of something that is precious to them and has important meaning. In Buddhist mandalas, the image in the center is often a figure called a “deity” (similar to a god or goddess in Greek mythology).

The mandala can be thought of as a flat map, a blueprint, of an imaginary palace. You enter in and follow the map to the "treasure." In their mind, Buddhists take an imaginary trip into the mandala and they begin to travel in a clockwise spiral stopping to focus on each image or symbol until they reach understanding of it. This understanding brings them peace and happiness. This process is repeated until they reach the middle. Around the precious image in the middle, attendant figures are placed. Beyond the attendants lies the first square with four gateways--one on each of its sides. These gates are surrounded by makras, mythical sea monsters. This square is surrounded by a larger circle, which is filled with waves to represent water. Slide 5: 3D Model of a Palace • What do you think this is? • What do you see? Since the mandala is a flat representation, or a map, of a fictional palace, you can make the palace come to life in your mind by pulling the spiral design upwards from the center. It would look something like this. This is a 3-dimensional model created by computer graphics students at Cornell University. Slide 6: Sand mandala • How is this mandala the same/different than the previous one? • What do you think this mandala is made of? Another way to make mandalas is with colored sand made from crushed semi-precious stones. Obviously, unlike Thangkas, these cannot be carried around! These unique and dazzling mandalas are created by Buddhist monks, who are dedicated to the teachings of Buddhism and have received extensive and rigorous training in this art form. They consider the act of making the sand mandala a spiritual practice that involves many rituals. These mandalas are designed to bring peace to the creators DURING the making of them, not to be kept and studied over time. The tradition of making sand mandalas continues to this day and monks travel to different places around the world to create sand mandalas and educate people about the culture of Tibet. These ceremonies have been conducted in museums throughout the US. Slide 7: Creation of a Sand Mandala • How do you think they make a sand mandala? • How long do you think it takes? The creation of a sand mandala requires many hours and multiple days to complete. The monks must work together in harmony in order to be successful. Each mandala contains many symbols that must be perfectly reproduced each time the mandala is created. The monks begin by carefully measuring and mapping out the circle, square, circle structure of the mandala. It is not uncommon to spend an entire day simply preparing the foundation for the sand to be placed upon. Afterwards, the monks begin filling small silver funnels with sand and carefully tap, tap, tapping it into the area of the mandala where it is needed.

As soon as it is finished, the monks gather in ceremony, chanting as they sweep their mandala sand into a jar and empty it into a nearby body of water as a blessing. This action also symbolizes the cycle of life as the sand is returned to the Earth. Slide 8: Mandala template This slide is to be used as a template to help the students design their own mandalas. Please show the video before discussing this slide. SAND MANDALA VIDEO Now we'll watch a video of monks from the Drigung Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism construct a sand mandala over the course of five days at the Asia Society Museum in New York.