Monks create sand work of art

The mandala takes five days to create

A group of eight monks from southern India are spending the week in Glastonbury to celebrate the Dalai Lama's 74th birthday.

Part of their stay will be spent creating a colourful mural out of sand - called an Amitayus Sand Mandala which is a "beautiful and dynamic piece of sacred art".

It is comprised of millions of grains of sand which are intricately laid out according to a pattern which the Buddhists learn and memorise in their monastery.

It represents the Buddha in geometrical form. The material used is marble dust coloured by the monks in the monastery.

At the end of the five days, it is destroyed to symbolise the temporality of this world and the impermanence of all things. It is brushed away and the sand is distributed in running water so that each of the blessed grains of sand reaches as far as possible.

The monks are creating the mandala to raise money for their Tashi Lhunpo monastery.

Organiser Gareth Mills said the monks chose Glastonbury's Assembly Rooms because the town is recognised by the monks to be a spiritual centre and there are several Buddhists who live there.

Gareth is not a practising Buddhist as such but is a big Dalai Lama fan and once cycled from Glastonbury to Wales to see him.