Don’t sneeze! Monks spend 30 hours building intricate artworks with millions of grains of sand - then brush them away to teach followers nothing lasts forever

The group of travelling monks are from the Drepung Loseling Monastery in India

They tour by the name The Mystical Arts of Tibet and use millions of grains of rice to create their artworks

Their work has received praise from the likes of the Dalai Lama and Richard Gere




A group of monks intricately spread millions of grains of sand to create stunning artworks - only for them to be swept away.

The series of mandala artworks take a group of ten monks up to 30 hours to complete.

They use millions of colourful grains of sand only to brush them away once complete to promote the understanding nothing lasts forever.

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Intricate: Each of the monks' sand-painted works begins with a drawing process. These examples were created at Crow Collection of Asian Art in Dallas, Texas

The group of travelling monks, from the Drepung Loseling Monastery in Karnataka State, India, tour by the name of The Mystical Arts of Tibet.

Each of their sand-painted works begins with a drawing process. These examples were created at Crow Collection of Asian Art in Dallas, Texas.

The coloured sand is then poured from traditional metal funnels, called chak-purs.

This technique takes a long time to perfect, as the monks not only need to have a great deal of patience, but also need to learn the correct breathing technique so they have optimum control over the chak-purs.

The group of travelling monks, from the Drepung Loseling Monastery in Karnataka State, India, tour by the name of The Mystical Arts of Tibet

The coloured sand is then poured from traditional metal funnels, called chak-purs. This technique takes a long time to perfect and the monks have to a great deal of patience

Beautiful: The monks hold the chak-purs in one hand, running the metal rod across a grated surface, which creates a vibration to make the sand flow

The monks hold the chak-purs in one hand, running the metal rod across a grated surface, which creates a vibration to make the sand flow.

Their work has received praise from the likes of the Dalai Lama and Richard Gere.

Gala Rinpoche, a spokesperson for the Mystical Arts of Tibet, said: 'The learning process for mandala sand painting is quite vigorous and takes long time to learn.

'First artist monks must be initiated by qualified teachers and receive all the required empowerments.

The monks use millions of colourful grains of sand only to brush them away once complete to promote the understanding nothing lasts forever

Monks need to learn how to breathe gently and team works because all the monks have to work together with lots mindfulness and mutual understanding

The group of travelling monks, from the Drepung Loseling Monastery in Karnataka State, India, tour by the name of The Mystical Arts of Tibet

Gala Rinpoche, a spokesperson for the Mystical Arts of Tibet, said the artwork must be swept away after completion to teach that everything comes with expiration date

'After that, one can learn the arts of pouring the sand, for which one has to learn the correct body postures and breathing.

'They have to breathe gently and learn how the team works, because all the monks have to work together with lots mindfulness and mutual understanding.

'One must have passion, dedication for arts and must know benefits and meaning of the arts. Then everything comes easily.



'People like the sand mandalas and we can sometimes see lots of emotion from viewers, especially when monks do the dismantling ceremony - that is the best opportunity for us to learn to let go.