
Monks Performing Sand Mandala Ceremony, Thupchen Temple
A sand mandala is a three-dimensional masterpiece of prayers. The beauty of the patterns and decorations of the colored sand is being used to host the main characters of the mandala: the main deity at the center is surrounded by a varying number of gods and goddesses, whose number changes according to the kind of mandala. All deities are represented in the form of a head in the handle of a ceremonial dagger known in Tibetan as "Phurba".