Photos: Colorful sands draw crowds as mandala takes shape in Steamboat (with video) | SteamboatToday.com
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Photos: Colorful sands draw crowds as mandala takes shape in Steamboat (with video)

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Geshe Tharchin, a Tibetan monk from the Drepung Loseling Monastery, creates the intricate Akshobhya Mandala Sand Painting inside the Bud Werner Memorial Library on Friday, Aug. 12, 2022, as part of a cultural residency "Mandala on the Yampa". The monks started working on the mandala on Tuesday, Aug. 9, and be completed by Sunday's closing ceremony, which begins at 7 p.m. at the library. The monks destroy their mandala sand painting shortly after completion. The colorful sands are swept up and placed in an urn during a closing ceremony – after which the monks will lead the community outside along the riverbank and the sands will be sent ceremoniously down the Yampa River to carry a healing blessing to the ocean and the rest of the world.
John F. Russell/Steamboat Pilot & Today
A group of chakpurs, metallic funnels used to move the sand, sit on a table on Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2022.
John F. Russell/Steamboat Pilot & Today
Geshe Tharchin, a Tibetan monk from the Drepung Loseling Monastery, selects a chakpur to create the intricate Akshobhya Mandala Sand Painting inside the Bud Werner Memorial Library on Friday, Aug. 12, 2022.
John F. Russell/Steamboat Pilot & Today
Geshe Nyima Tamang, a Tibetan monk from the Drepung Loseling Monastery, works on the intricate details of the Akshobhya Mandala Sand Painting inside the Bud Werner Memorial Library on Friday, Aug. 12, 2022, as part of a cultural residency “Mandala on the Yampa”. The monks started working on the mandala on Tuesday, Aug. 9, and will complete it by the closing ceremony, which begins at 7 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 14, at the library.
John F. Russell/Steamboat Pilot & Today
Liza Masters helps 4-year-old Ruby Goldmaster fill his chakpur, a metallic funnel used to move sand, while working on a community sand painting inside the Bud Werner Memorial Library on Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2022. The community mandala gave residents and visitors a chance to experience painting with sand and a better understanding of what the Tibetan Buddhist monks from Drepung Loseling Monastery do as they create a mandala sand painting.
John F. Russell/Steamboat Pilot & Today
Tibetan Buddhist monks from Drepung Loseling Monastery work on a mandala sand painting Friday, Aug. 12, 2022, inside the Bud Werner Memorial Library.
John F. Russell/Steamboat Pilot & Today
Geshe Tharchin, a Tibetan monk from the Drepung Loseling Monastery, uses a chakpur to create the intricate Akshobhya Mandala Sand Painting inside the Bud Werner Memorial Library on Friday, Aug. 12, 2022.
John F. Russell/Steamboat Pilot & Today
A Tibetan Buddhist monk from Drepung Loseling Monastery works on a line drawing on Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2022, which was used create a mandala sand painting inside the Bud Werner Memorial Library.
John F. Russell/Steamboat Pilot & Today
Tibetan Budist monk Geshe Nyima Tamang uses a chakpur, a metallic funnels used to move the sand on Friday, Aug. 12, 2022, to create the intricate Akshobhya Mandala Sand Painting.
John F. Russell/Steamboat Pilot & Today
A Tibetan monk pours excess sand out of a chakpur while creating a mandala sand painting on Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2022, at the Bud Werner Memorial Library. The chakpur is used to place the sand when creating the detailed paintings.
John F. Russell/Steamboat Pilot & Today
The intricate Akshobhya mandala sand painting, with its brightly colored grains of sand and fine details, represents the “unshakeable victor of conflict resolution and peace.”
John F. Russell/Steamboat Pilot & Today
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