Three monks are carefully sprinkling the colored sand on the mandala, photo from Eastday.com.

The material needed for making of mandala, photo from Eastday.com.

A monks is filling his conical tool with colored sand, photo from Eastday.com.

On the opening ceremony of the "Auspicious Hada-Large Scale Tibetan Culture & Art Exhibition", monks from Shaten Monastery of Nagqu Prefecture brought the making of mandala face to face to the visitors. 

Mandala, called Dultson Kyilkhor in Tibetan, means container of essence. The Mandala is a tri-dimensional graphical and geometrical representation of the universe. It represents a combination of the enlightened mind and body of Buddha and is considered to have great power.

These unique and exquisite works are usually made of colored sand. However, powdered flowers, herbs and even precious gems are also popularly used materials. Although Mandalas were originally created as religious objects used to aid in meditation and decorate and sanctify monasteries and homes, they have become appreciated as artwork for their elegance and beauty.

Mandalas are usually symmetric with series of concentric circles and squares. The center point is the residence of the resident deity, from whom the Mandala is identified. Lines are drawn from the centre until they intersect and form circles and squares. The finished Mandalas have four gates, which symbolize a culmination of the four virtues: compassion, kindness, sympathy and equanimity. Other Buddhist auspicious symbols can also be included in the design. Form and color application techniques are strictly followed in the process of creating a Mandala to show religious meanings.