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# “Sand mandala ceremony,” Adrian Oxbrow
- URL: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/sandmandala-3497jsp/
- Published: 2006-05-01T23:05:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-04-17T11:48:57.000Z
- Author: Adrian Oxbrow
- Tags: #en, #Migrated, #Import 2026-04-09 19:27, #ImagesUploaded

Tibetan monks from the Tashi Lhunpo monastery, seat of the Panchen Lama, perform the ritual destruction of a sand mandala. A tradition of Tantric Buddhism, a sand mandala is a “painting” process involving millions of grains of sand which are painstakingly laid in place using hollow pipes called chak-purs, through which the sand is vibrated into the design. When the mandala is finally completed it is ritually dismantled during a colourful ceremony to symbolise the impermanence of all that exists.

For more information see the [Tashi Lhunpo Monastery](http://www.tash-lhunpo.org.uk/?ref=opendemocracy.net) UK site, [Asia House](http://www.asiahouse.org/events11.html?ref=opendemocracy.net), where the sand mandala ceremony was performed, and a [BBC feature](http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/buddhism/features/mandala/?ref=opendemocracy.net) on sand mandalas. For more photographs visit [www.pbase.com](http://www.pbase.com/adrianox/tashi%5Flhunpo?ref=opendemocracy.net).

![ONE](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3f/80/3f804bea-4b2d-4ddf-9ff0-6ec7d0afa5fa/content/images/2026/04/ONe_565_586yxMY-1776425889210.jpg)

ONE

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TWO

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THREE

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FOUR

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FIVE

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SIX

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SEVEN

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EIGHT

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NINE