Buddhist monks draw a crowd as sand mandala gets under way in St. Petersburg [View all]

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One of eight Tibetan monks from Drepung Gomang monastery in India, works on a mandala at Florida CraftArt Galleries in St. Petersburg, laying down brightly colored sand in repetitive patterns using a chakpur, or a fluted, cone-shaped tool, into patterns. The work they are creating is called World Peace Mandala, which will show a dove in the center over planet Earth. Visitors can see the work progress through Saturday at the gallery each day. There are daily chanting ceremonies at 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. each day. The monks will participate in a Dissolution ceremony at 1 pm Sunday when they will sweep up the sand and scatter it into Tampa Bay with a Buddhist blessing. SCOTT KEELER | Times

Sharon Kennedy Wynne, Times Staff Writer
Tuesday, January 31, 2017 1:35pm

The hottest show in town this week is an eight-piece band of Buddhist monks putting together a mandala that contemplates world peace one grain of sand at a time.

More than 40 people were at the door Tuesday morning waiting for Florida CraftArt Galleries in downtown St. Petersburg to open, and the crowd doubled in size as a chanting ceremony commenced.

The attraction was eight Tibetan monks from a monastery in India, one selling Tibetan goods from a table piled high with brightly colored scarves, wall hangings and journals, and seven seated around a bright blue platform that will hold an intricate mandala by week's end.

A symbol of the Buddhist lesson that life is beautiful and impermanent, the mandala is created in a meditative sequence of laying down brightly colored sand in repetitive patterns. The monks use a chakpur, a fluted, cone-shaped tool, to pour tiny lines of sand into a circular pattern that holds meaning in their symbols, colors and placement.

This one is called the World Peace Mandala, and it was designed with a dove in the center over the planet Earth and is surrounded by symbols of every major religion, including a Jewish Star of David, a Christian cross and, the star and crescent moon of Islam. The next ring of the mandala will have people of all colors holding hands.

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