Three senior Tibetan monks spent five days creating an intricate sand mandala installation within the Oxo Gallery on the South Bank.
The closing ceremony on 21 June saw the mandala ceremonially dissolved and released into the River Thames to symbolise the Buddhist belief that nothing is permanent.
The event was hosted by the Pure Land Foundation and Tricycle: The Buddhist Review to launch the Buddhist Film Festival, which will present a curated programme of short and feature length films engaging with themes drawn from Buddhist philosophy.
Bruno Wang, founder of Pure Land Foundation, said: “The response to the sand mandala installation shows that London audiences are deeply open to experiences that invite stillness, reflection and connection.
“Watching people stop on the South Bank, gather at the gallery window, come inside, return over five days and then witness the mandala’s dissolution into the Thames was profoundly moving.
“It showed that ancient contemplative traditions still have real power in contemporary life when they are shared in ways people can encounter directly.”
Pure Land Foundation says the event drew around 15,000 visitors into the gallery, totalling to around 50,000 when including those who stopped from outside to watch the creation of the sand mandala.
Visitor Jane said: “We were fascinated by what they were doing and we watched for quite a long time and yesterday we found out that it was going to be destroyed so we made a special journey just to come and see this.”
Alan, who visited three times across the week, added: “It’s something that would normally only be performed inside a Buddhist temple and it’s not something that normally would be put on for the public to see so it’s sort of a once in a lifetime opportunity to see this.
“It’s fascinating to watch it actually being made, the concentration required and the idea that it’s a demonstration of the impermanence of things.
“This is a creation that then just disappears and it’s sort of given back to nature by throwing the sand into the river.”
The Pure Land Foundation and Tricycle: Buddhist Review said that the mandala was a living expression of the ideas explored in The Buddhist Film Festival.
Wang added: “The Buddhist Film Festival is not only about cinema. It is about creating pathways into ideas that help us think more deeply about impermanence, compassion and the human condition.”
Tricycle’s third annual Buddhist Film Festival co-presented with Pure Land Foundation ran from 16 June to 30 June.
Featured image credit: Pure Land Foundation
