MUMBAI: Away from the crowds and chaos of the ongoing Kala Ghoda Arts Festival, a quiet, meditative and intensive art practice unfolds at the Himalayan gallery of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (CSMVS). Four Buddhist monks from the Gyudmed Tantric Monastery in Karnataka are creating an intricate, 4/4 metre sand mandala, before the life-size statue of Maitreya or the Buddha of the future, inside the first-floor gallery.
Seated cross-legged on a slightly raised table, monks Sonam Punchok, Ngodu Tsering, Thupten Tsultrim and Lobzang Choygal are bent over the geometric diagram, which also feature floral and freehand motifs. While they colour the tiny details of the mandala with a copper funnel called a chak-pur, tapping it with a wooden stick to release the coloured sand slowly, curious visitors stand transfixed, watching the therapeutic process of creation. “The making of the sand mandala, the living culture of the Vajrayana Buddhism is a slow and steady process that requires a lot of patience,” says Joyoti Roy, assistant director project and public relations of CSMVS. “The museum often invites such practices to demonstrate how performative rituals and displayed objects come together in reality,” she adds. This project is one such, facilitated by the department of information and international relations, Central Tibetan Administration, Dharamshala.
The Himalayan gallery at the museum is the only one of its kind in the country, displaying 175 Buddhist objects, dating from 10th to 18th century CE. These include statues from Vajrayana Buddhism, which flourished from 6th to 11th Century CE, and practiced in the Himalayan belt of Nepal, Tibet and Ladakh, in India. This sect includes more ritualistic practices including creation of butter dolls and mandalas, which could be drawn on Thangkas (traditional Buddhist drawings) or embroidered and even created with sand, similar to a rangoli. In Buddhism, a mandala is essentially a map of the cosmos, dedicated to different gods and goddesses.
The sand mandala at the museum is for Boddhistava Avalokiteshvara, the one with infinite compassion. In Mumbai, the four members of the Gyudmed monastery have been working on it since last week, every day, from 10.30 am to 5.30 pm and will continue till today. They first consecrated the space they are working in and then drew the mandala to colour it; beginning from the centre before moving outside. The colours are made manually, by grinding white stones into fine powder and mixing it with different shades. Like Avalokiteshvara’s mandala (geometrical designs depicted in Tibetan Thangka paintings), Vajrayana Buddhism has many such cosmic maps, which are dedicated to different deities. “Each has its distinctive pattern and colours, described in great detail in the scriptures along with the mantras that must be chanted while making the mandalas,” explains Punchok.
But not all monks can make sand mandalas. Punchok and his friends have studied the art for about a year at their monastery, which also houses an institute of Buddhism studies. They must also pass an exam, which tests their skills and knowledge of the scriptures on mandala. Punchok and other monks from his monastery have been invited to create sand mandalas in Germany, Russia, Singapore, Thailand and other countries. “It takes a lot of time and dedication to learn how to make sand mandalas,” says Punchok.
Initially, when they start, their backs and eyes hurt from bending over and squinting for long durations. “It is hard. But after some time, you get used to it,” adds Punchok.
Though what’s surprising is that the painstakingly created work over several days, and with so much precision, dedication and back-breaking hard work is almost immediately destroyed after it’s completed. “It does feel bad, but it’s in line with the teachings of Buddhism,” says Punchok. “The practice reiterates that nothing is permanent,” explains Roy.
(Watch the sand mandala being made at the Himalayan gallery at CSMVS, Fort today.
Time: Today; 10.30 am to 6 pm
Entry fee: ₹200)
EOM