A mandala (Sanskrit for "circle"; Tibetan kyilkhor, "centre and surrounding") is a sacred diagram used in Buddhist and Hindu practice. In Tibetan Buddhism it is, above all, the palace of a deity seen from above: the deity sits at the centre, and everything around it is set out in exact order, ring by ring, to the edge. A mandala thangka is that diagram painted on cloth, to be studied, used in practice or hung.
How it is laid out
- The centre: the main deity, sometimes with a consort, or a symbol or seed syllable that stands for the deity, usually on a lotus. Smaller figures are often arranged around it in the four or eight directions.
- The palace: a square seen from directly above, its walls painted as bands of colour, with a gateway in the middle of each side. The quarters inside are often coloured by direction, in a scheme that varies from one mandala to another.
- The gateways: T-shaped gates facing the four directions, often crowned with a Dharma wheel between two deer.
- The outer rings: from the inside out, usually a ring of lotus petals, a ring of vajras and a ring of flames, the fire of wisdom that encloses the whole. Mandalas of wrathful deities add a band with the eight charnel grounds, a reminder of death.
- The corners: between the circle and the square frame, painters add offerings, clouds, lineage teachers or protectors.
- The orientation: east is the mandala's front, and in Tibetan paintings it is usually at the bottom, facing the viewer.
What it is for
In Tibetan Buddhism a deity's mandala is its home. Practitioners who have received the deity's initiation picture the palace in their mind and move inward from the outer rings to the deity at the centre. Mandalas are traditionally made in four ways: in coloured sand, as heaps of grain, as paintings and as three-dimensional models. Sand mandalas, built for a ritual, are swept away afterwards as a lesson in impermanence; a painted mandala keeps the plan for study and practice.
For anyone outside the practice, a mandala thangka is a map of an ideal, ordered world, and a feat of exact drawing.
Kinds of mandala thangka
- Deity mandalas have a Buddha or deity at the centre of the palace, alone or with a large retinue. The Kalachakra mandala is one of the most complex; a Shakyamuni mandala places the historical Buddha at the centre.
- Symbol mandalas put a symbol where the deity would sit, such as a lotus or an endless knot. Some older paintings show the Buddha only as a lotus seat on a throne.
- Mantra mandalas are made of rings of sacred syllables around a central letter: see our guide to mantra mandalas.
- The Shri Yantra comes from the Hindu tradition: nine interlocking triangles around a central point. Newar painters in the Kathmandu Valley paint it alongside Buddhist mandalas (our Shri Yantra guide).
- Decorative mandalas: some modern designs by Kathmandu painters borrow the mandala's round frame for a motif such as the dragon, without following the mandala of a particular practice.
In a painting
A mandala is judged first by its geometry: true circles, straight and even walls, gateways that match on all four sides, and rings that stay concentric all the way round. Then look at the detail: fine, even line work, and small figures or letters that stay crisp when you zoom in. Gold-coloured line on black, a favourite scheme, shows any unevenness at once. To recognise a mandala at a glance, look for a centre, a square palace with four gates, and rings around it.
