Tibetan Sand Mandala 
Created and Destroyed in San Francisco

Seven Tibetan monks from the Tashi Lhunpo monastery in India 
worked for four days at the California Academy of Sciences 
constructing a mandala using grains of colored sand. 
When the mandala was completed, 
the monks held a ceremony and destroyed it. 
The destruction symbolizes the impermanence of life. 

January 16 to 19, 2003 
San Francisco, California
Photos by Lonny Shavelson --COPYRIGHT © 2003
                                                        

scroll for full series

⋩⋩⋩⋩⋩⋩⋩⋩⋩⋩⋩

Day One 

Tibetan monk Kachen Lobzang 
carefully paints the first circle to begin the mandala. 










⋩⋩⋩⋩⋩⋩⋩⋩⋩⋩⋩

Day Three 

⋩⋩⋩⋩⋩⋩⋩⋩⋩⋩⋩

Day Four: The monks destroy the mandala 
and distribute the sand 









⋩⋩⋩⋩⋩⋩⋩⋩⋩⋩⋩

home