On Saturday, a project from the monks of Drepung Gomang Monastery in Karnataka, India, was completed, as they deposited sand from the mandala they had built to the Contoocook River during a ceremony.

The monks spent the previous week creating a mandala at the Mariposa Museum on Main Street. Buddhist monks create the multicolored design with sand, believing it to send positive energy to those who view it and to the environment. 

Before an audience of over 60 people, the monks dismantled the mandala and deposited the sand from it into a jar wrapped in silk. From the museum, the monks proceeded to the river by Depot Square.  The sand is released into moving water to spread its energy elsewhere, and to emphasize the impermanence to life.

Tom Westheimer of Peterborough hosted the monks during their creative process at the Mariposa.