Glastonbury Tibet Week - Wednesday 7th to Sunday 11th December 2011

Eight Monks from the re-established Tashi Lhunpo Monastery in Bylakuppe in Kamataka State, India from have, in conjunction with The Speaking Tree, been on a 5 days residence at the Assembly Rooms in Glastonbury as the final stop on their 3 month European tour.

Although there were a selection of events occurring around the visit, including hands-on workshops in prayer flag printing; dukar-wheel making and butter sculpture; a supper prepared and served by the Monks; teachings about the monastery and music and masked dance; the most breathtaking event of all was the painstaking construction of an exquisite sand Mandala (loosely translated from Sanskrit to mean circle) using millions of grains of crushed marble each the size of a grain of sand, and each brightly coloured by the Monks.

Following a short dedication ceremony at 10am on Wednesday morning, construction of the Mandala started in earnest.  To make the Mandala, which is a flat circular design measuring around 2 feet in diameter, each grain of marble was painstakingly laid in place into an intricate design on a flat table using chak-purs (hollow metal tubes), and most remarkable of all is that the elaborate design was all done from a design memorised by the Monks during their training.  

Following the completion of the Mandala four days later, and a period of time in which an enlightened being or Buddha has been invited inside, a destruction ceremony was held at 10.30 on Sunday morning, when we were told by the tour manager exactly what the Mandala depicted (a description can be seen here).   

Following a short ceremony of chanting and music, during which the Buddha was respectively asked to leave, the Mandala was broken and swept up by hand into the centre of the table, where it appeared to once again be just a pile of colourful marble dust.  I actually found this quite moving, as all this delicate work was seemingly ruined in just a few minutes, yet its aim was to signify the impermanence of life, and it had after all now served its purpose. 

The marble was then scooped up into a jar by the Monks before in a final procession it was escorted to the Chalice Well where in a final short blessing ceremony at the Vesica Piscis pool, it was emptied into the water and carried away in the running stream to symbolise the cycle of life and to be carried away for the benefit of all sentient beings.

Pictures here: 

Gallery One

Gallery Two