The mandala will be a Medicine Buddha mandala, for health and living. For the opening ceremony, the monks, or lamas, consecrated the site with chanting, music and mantra recitation. During the ceremony, I stood against a column in the Alys Stephens Center's Grand Lobby, and I could feel the vibrations of their instruments as they were played. Next, the lamas began drawing an outline on a wooden platform onto which they will then lay the colored sands. Each monk will hold a traditional metal funnel called a chakpur while running a metal rod on its grated surface. The vibration causes the sands to flow like liquid onto the platform. Millions of grains of sand will be painstakingly laid over four days to form the unique and exquisite image of a mandala.
The creation of the mandala sand painting can be viewed by the public daily Nov. 9, 10 and 11 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; and Friday, Nov. 12 from 10 a.m. until the closing ceremony at 1 p.m. The monks also will bless those who come to view the mandala Friday, if they request it. In a neat twist, viewers also can participate in the creation of a community mandala sand painting themselves. Volunteers, including some UAB art history students from Assistant Professor Cathleen Cummings' class, will be on hand to guide them through the process. Traditionally most sand mandalas are destroyed shortly after their completion, serving as a metaphor for the impermanence of life. The sands are swept up and placed in an urn. Half will be distributed to the audience at the closing ceremony Friday while the remainder will be carried to the Cahaba River.
The Mystical Arts of Tibet will perform “Sacred Music Sacred Dance” at 7 p.m. Thursday Nov. 11 in UAB’s Alys Stephens Center. Their Dalai Lama-endorsed performance will feature traditional temple music and mystical masked dances, elaborate costumes, traditional horns, drums, bells and cymbals, and unique multi-phonic singing, where the monks simultaneously intone three notes of a chord. For anyone who wants to experience the depth and difference of another culture, don't miss it. And even if you don't attend the performance, don't miss this chance to experience a culture and traditions so beautiful and so amazingly different than ours.
The Mystical Arts of Tibet will perform “Sacred Music Sacred Dance” at 7 p.m. Thursday Nov. 11 in UAB’s Alys Stephens Center. Their Dalai Lama-endorsed performance will feature traditional temple music and mystical masked dances, elaborate costumes, traditional horns, drums, bells and cymbals, and unique multi-phonic singing, where the monks simultaneously intone three notes of a chord. For anyone who wants to experience the depth and difference of another culture, don't miss it. And even if you don't attend the performance, don't miss this chance to experience a culture and traditions so beautiful and so amazingly different than ours.