Mandalas

This month, we are studying ancient India. We are also studying mandalas!  In Sanskrit “mandala” means circle. Sanskrit is the ancient language of ancient India. Mandalas were first made in southeast China and India. They are colorful mats that are used for meditating. Mandalas are part of a Hindu and Buddhist culture. Mandalas have a lot to do with balance . You will always see a pattern in a mandala. These patterns represent the patterns of the universe. When we went to the Rubin museum in New York City, we saw beautiful mandalas from all over Asia. We also saw many other things from Asia that were very interesting at the Rubin. Then, we made our own mandalas! Of course we didn’t make “real” mandalas. Real mandalas take a very long time to make and acquire extraordinary profession. We did make mandala sun-catchers made out of translucent paper though. We colored in the translucent paper in a balanced way and hung them up on our window. They look so beautiful when the sun shines through them. Mandalas are beautiful pieces of art to admire and even to make!