A mandala is a diagram that lays out the sacred environs of Buddhas and other deities. These diagrams function as road-maps to attainment, for an individual seeking realisation meditates on all the figures in the diagram, moving from the outer edges inward. The mandala centre, the place where the main deity who embodies complete attainment resides, is the final destination. A mandala is also a plan or chart of the entire cosmos. It is a microcosm of the universe.

Mandalas can be large, three-dimensional structures (many Buddhist and Hindu temples are mandalas) or they can be two-dimensional paintings and drawings. Tibetan Buddhists often create elaborate mandalas using coloured sand on temple floors. After a few days or weeks the sand is brushed away to remind us of the impermanence of all physical things, an underlying principle that governs both Buddhism and Hinduism.


Mandala of Chakrasamvara and Vajravarahi This spectacular lotus sculpture opens to reveal the purified realm of the Buddha couple Chakrasamvara and Vajravarahi. In the centre, on a lotus pedestal that rests above the stylised calyx of the larger flower, stand the Buddha couple, locked in loving embrace. The four goddesses of the innermost ring of the Chakrasamvara mandala stand closest to the centre, in between four skull cups that contain elixirs of enlightenment.		The sculpture is designed to allow the petals of the flower to open and close. When closed , the sculpture forms a lotus bud, waiting to blossom and reveal the glorious realm of attainment within.

Image: Mandala of Chakrasamvara and Vajravarahi, China, Tibeto-Chinese style, Ming dynasty, 1600s
The British Museum. Given by Miss Humphreys in memory of Edward Humphreys, Esq. 1939.1-18.1

Image: Mandala of Chakrasamvara and Vajravarahi, China, Tibeto-Chinese style, Ming dynasty, 1600s The British Museum. Given by Miss Humphreys in memory of Edward Humphreys, Esq. 1939.1-18.1

Image: Mandala of Chakrasamvara and Vajravarahi, China, Tibeto-Chinese style, Ming dynasty, 1600s
The British Museum. Given by Miss Humphreys in memory of Edward Humphreys, Esq. 1939.1-18.1