Crossing Cultures | Sacred Art: The Tibetan Sand Mandala

Explore Tibetan traditions with Buddhist monks from Drepung Gomang Monastic College in Mundgod, India. During five days at the University, the monks will create a sand mandala and teach such arts as butter sculpture and sand painting. The mandala will be disassembled in the closing ceremony and, in accordance with tradition, each attendee will receive a bag of sand.

GOMANG MONKS

Gomang College is the oldest of four colleges of the Drepung Monastery, which was founded in 1416 near Lhasa, Tibet. Following the Communist China invasion of 1959, about 100 monks fled Tibet with the Dalai Lama. In 1969, the 62 surviving Gomang monks set about reestablishing their college in India. Events such as Sacred Art provide support for the monks' community and other Tibetans in exile.

For more information about the Gomang Monastery visit www.gomang.org.