Offered by monks from Drepung Gomang Monastic College and endorsed by his Holiness the Dalai Lama. Visit until 4 p.m. Wednesday, and starting at 10 a.m. Thursday. Closing ceremony is on Thursday, November 6 from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Submitted by Angela Martin, Media Communications, Copper Beech Institute

The Monks from The Drepung Gomang Monastic College create a sand mandala painting at Copper Beech Institute (day 3). Photo by Amy Melvin

The Copper Beech Institute in West Hartford is hosting a special event, “The Sacred Art of the Sand Mandala” November 2–6 from 10 a.m.–4 p.m. daily. Tibetan monks visiting from Drepung Gomang Monastic College have been “painting” the mandala since Sunday and the public is invited to visit  to observe the mandala as it unfolds.

Tours of the Institute will be offered daily at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. during the monks’ visit, beginning in the public chapel.

A closing ceremony will be held on November 6, 2014 from 1-2:30 p.m. when the monks will perform a ritualistic ceremony of destroying the sand mandala they took five days to create, teaching the lesson of impermanence.

A free-will offering will be accepted to help support the daily needs of the community of about 2,000 monks who live in a Tibetan refugee camp in South India.

The Copper Beech Institute is located on the campus of the Holy Family Retreat Center at 303 Tunxis Road in West Hartford. For further information, please contact Angela Martin at 860-550-4545 or visit copperbeechinstitute.org/sandmandala.