Tibet monastery takes elaborate effort to make mandala (1/15)

Colored sand, used to make a "Yamataka mandala," is seen at the Kundeling Monastery in Lhasa, Southwest China’s Tibet autonomous region, Feb. 21, 2015. The creation of a mandala follows strict rules of proportion, structure, and content. The work was started on the third day of the first month in Tibetan lunar calendar and took five days to finish. It has been a tradition for the monastery that follows the Geluk school to paint and consecrate mandalas during the Tibetan New Year, known as Losar. The completed sand mandala will be used for certain Buddhist rituals in the following seven days. (Photo: China News Service/Li Lin)