Mandala

Origin of Mandalas can be traced back to Hindu and Buddhist spiritual practices. They are often depicted either in symbolic patterns or stories of great beings. In a way they are stories in a pictorial format. Often, we relate ourselves in stories we hear, thus many philosophers included stories to understand things about self. Monks and scholars didn’t stop at that, they found a more interactive way to communicate teachings through pictorial format of Mandalas. But how these Mandalas were used you may ask?
In Combination of Science and Art: Mandalas is a style in painting which combines science and Art. In Hindu culture separate science was developed to tell future based on stars. This science included calculation of star positions and it depicted future and behavioral traits of a related human being. These were shown in mathematical diagrams.
Yantras: Some of these diagrams were used for deity worship, named Yantras. Usually they were kept at home, temples or with self to ward off evil. Yantra in Sanskrit means ‘Instrument of support’. Oldest Yantra found in India is on a stone with triangular engravings and 11000-10000 years old. They were not just pieces of drawings to be stored, assuming things blindly. People from ancient India followed particular techniques and traditions to develop healthier mind and lifestyle. Lot of worship techniques included meditation based on these diagrams. Meditation by concentrating on one part of the diagram to other with constant intensity until you complete entire diagram is one of the techniques.
My Mandalas: I paint Mandalas in two branches. In one branch, Mandalas are based on the people who request a personalized Mandala on their personality traits so that they can meditate over it with proper guidance. As they are personalized, they can’t be shown publicly. Second branch is more generalized based on Elements of Nature. Understanding nature of elements was used for health-benefit. There are five basic Elements in Hindu culture: Space, Fire, Air, Water, Earth (in order they came to existence). In Chinese culture Space is replaced by Wood. Mandalas from the theme show prominent traits of the element and they can be used for meditation.
Besides elements I have also painted some Mandalas on the deities. For more questions feel free to contact me. You can also find out your elemental Mandala personality. All you need to do is solve a short quiz.