The Ritual
One mandala. Fourteen days.
Then it goes back to the water.
White Buddha Temple · Qinghai · December 2025
What happened in December
At White Buddha Temple, on the eastern shore of Qinghai Lake, twenty Gelug monks spent fourteen days building a sand mandala for Mahāvairocana, the Buddha of all-illuminating light. They worked from December 4 to 18, 2025, placing every grain by hand.
When the mandala was complete, the monks returned it to the water. Ninety-nine percent of the sand went back to the lake and the rivers that feed it. Through donation and offering, Bijala kept the final one percent: the heart of the painting.
How a sand mandala works
01 · MAKE
Twenty monks, fourteen days, millions of grains placed one by one with a chak-pur. The spiritual geometry is beautifully completed.
02 · BLESS
The finished mandala is consecrated through ritual. Every grain has been blessed.
03 · RELEASE
The painting is swept away and returned to the water. The final one percent is carried forward into the pieces.
