A mandala is a spiritual or ritual geometric configuration of symbols in the Indian religions of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism. The object I chose is the LOTUS MANDALA OF HEVAJRA(CA. 12TH CENTURY) in the rubin museum. The reason I chose it is the symmetrical three dimensional shape attracted me. After I did my research about this object, I found It can be opened from the center top. The lotus bud opens into a blossom, to reveal the sources of power found within. It is really dedicated and sculptured with fully detailed. It was made of Copper alloy. “Most of the mandalas on view in the Rubin take the form of a two-dimensional painting. However, mandalas are intended to represent the full three-dimensional form of the deity’s realm, and are often created in sculptural form, in gold, wood, clay, sand, or in this case bronze.” The upper part of this mandala is a lotus and the lower part is more like a supportive stalk to rise the lotus.The stalk shows two nagas or snake-beings prepare the vajra throne of the Buddha, the foundation of the activities of all who inhabit the upper blossom. In Indian, The lotus is a symbol of purity, and the aim of visualization practices is to recognize that the apparently impure world is, in reality, pure. Both inside and outside of it’s petals are emboss with figures. The outside of it was eight cemetery grounds and the eight great tantric adepts, known as mahasiddhas. Almost everywhere in this small piece is covered by religious sculpture. A sculpture of the divine couple Hevajra and Nairatmya was originally at the center of the mandala and signified sources of power for all other figures within the mandala, including the eight dancing yoginis. The Hevajra Tantra is a source of magical spells and practices aimed at the transcendent goal of liberation, as well as worldly aims such as making rain, curing illness, finding lost things, and subduing enemy armies. All in all, the most basic and direct meaning of mandala means – gather. It represents every good things gather together. Carl Gustav Jung propose that It symbolizes the center point of the goal, or the self as the whole of the mind, it is a self re-emerging phenomenon of the psychological process towards the center, the process of the new center of personality. The concept can be symbolically reproduced by a round/square or four-digit object. According to my research, mandala means different things in different countries and different areas. It could be a philosophical thoughts, it could be a place, it could also be a prop used for religious ceremonies. “According to Tantric Buddhism, while the Buddha appeared to be a monk meditating under the Bodhi Tree, he secretly departed to receive initiation in the esoteric tantric rites that were necessary to achieve full awakening.”
