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Mandala art is a beautiful blend of symmetry, creativity, and mindfulness. Originating from ancient spiritual traditions, mandalas are now widely used for relaxation and self-expression. Whether drawn or colored, mandala designs help calm the mind, reduce stress, and boost focus, making them a powerful tool for modern wellness.
What is mandala art?
Mandala is a Sanskrit word, and mandala means circle. It means Mandala in itself is a circle, a circle. Therefore, whatever art form you have seen in a pure circle is generally known as a mandala.
Brief History and Origins
It was like an invention of Shakyamuni’s time. Mandalas were invented in 560 BC when we had the Silk Road existed. There was a trade route from there to connect East and West. Mandalas were issued in the form of directions.
So, their origin is India only but many centuries and centuries away. But nowadays, if we look at it commonly, then people want to know Rangoli Kalpana by many names. But the basic thing is a circular form, or mandala, you can call it. There is Mr. Fisher; his literature is about where the emergence happened. I mean that because it was very therapeutic—it is a lot of therapy, a lot of work giving what we call peace, through which you get, So a lot of things are there in it, so it is something like this: if you ever see any mandala piece, then you will automatically get drawn towards it, so there is a reason for that too.
Meaning of Circles in Mandalas
There is only one boundary; there are no rules and regulations in a mandala. There is only one boundary because the name mandala itself is a circle, and it means a circle, so we definitely give one restriction: whatever art you want to do, you will do it inside a circle only. You can put any shape inside the circle; it can be a square or a triangle—put anything; that is your universe—but you will get a boundary, which should be inside a circle.
If we unite our lives, it starts with the dot. If I tell you that you can represent your art in the simplest of art, then if you put a dot, it can be the simplest thing through which your entire art can be represented. So a dot is the starting point of our life, so we call it the starting point because a circle is such a shape that has neither any beginning nor any end, which we call there is no beginning, there is no end, so our life is also a dot, a circle; it starts from a dot, from a cell, and it does not end because the concept of life is eternal, yet as we say that death does not mean the end of life, death is a beginning, it is a state of rest; after this you will start again, so that circle and life both happen together.
Effects of Mandalas on the Body
There are many benefits of doing mandala work. If we start from the basics, then concentration. When you sit for one, two, or three hours for anything, then definitely your concentration span increases. Especially high hand coordination in children, which is a very typical thing that we have to correct. Children who are interested in this thing or this artwork benefit a lot.
Eye-hand coordination and sitting span, which are not seen in children nowadays, are very hyper. Who are hyper-sensitive kids and adults? Mandala therapy works a lot for them. Then the confidence level increases. Like many people say that I have never done anything in art, nor do I have knowledge of art, so the people who come, they go out like a professional and are very happy that they have created something of their own and have created something so beautiful.
So, your confidence and moral boost definitely happen when we talk clinically; it serves as a clinical aid. So, in many patients we see that there is actual anxiety, stress, trauma, and all these things happen. At the same time, it doesn’t matter. It is not an alternative to medicine. It doesn’t mean that you will not take medicine, and you will only do a mandala. If you have any medical problems, you will first consult a doctor. You will take your medication, and you will take mandala as an aid.
So, it is not an alternative therapy. Otherwise, but slowly and gradually, your medication will definitely reduce. It is tried and tested, even on cancer patients, and even on critical illnesses. It is tried and it is working. So, you can do all this, but as a Catalina, it definitely lowers your blood pressure levels, your anxiety levels. Definitely, you will get help. But if you do it consistently and therapeutically, then it will help you.
Connection Between Mandalas and Meditation
When we call it reading of the mandala, that is, when you create a mandala, you put it on a wall or you keep it on a table, then how will you study it? So there is a way to study every mandala, you enter the mandala through the center point, only then the center is also relevant to it, so you enter a mandala from the center point of the mandala and then you start looking at that mandala, when you gaze at that mandala continuously for five minutes or ten minutes, then it will emit as it says, your subconscious mind and your conscious mind will come together and meet at one place, you will start enjoying that process, try it yourself sometime, if there is any mandala that attracts you, look at it and keep looking at it, how many permutations and combinations will be formed from it.
Whatever work you will do in your mind, that itself is a meditative healing, so when you look at a mandala with open eyes, you will see all your thoughts. We purify the senses, not only the five senses we have, so when we open all the senses including our eyes, we are purifying those senses, so whatever meditation you do, if you need a focal point then you can concentrate on the centre of a mandala, your meditative part will also be enhanced, you will be able to concentrate better.
Steps to Start Creating a Mandala Painting
Every mandala is different. Even if you try to copy any mandala, you will not be able to do it 100% because it has its own energies, positive and negative. So first of all, you should not copy anything. But even when I create my mandala, no two things or two mandalas ever turn out the same. I have tried many times, but it has never been possible for me. There are two ways. You can either start from the center and then reflect towards the outside. Or start from the outside and find your center. What are you trying to find? Both ways are absolutely correct. Both ways are fine. It depends on what your mood is and what you want at that time.
Sometimes we do not know our center. We do not know the purpose of our life. We do not know clarity. There is so much rest. There is so much anxiety. We are not even able to lift the pen in our hands. Sometimes it becomes a big challenge. Drawing is far away. So whatever you want, you can do it. If you feel comfortable and feel that I should first finish the outside and then come to the center, that is up to you, there is no color in it but there are two ways, like we say in mandala, there is creative reflective way and there is reflective creative way, there is a lot of difference between the two, creative like nowadays we are doing it on 90, because you have to create a beautiful mandala like an art form, so its technique is different because we pay a lot of attention to symmetry in it, we pay a lot of attention to perfection, so there is a different method for that, geometric which we call it a pure math science, so in that we try to create a symmetrical mandala properly, we make its sections, which we technically call orders, that in how many orders your mandala should be, six, eight, even, odd are less, they do not happen generally, but you know there is no rule and regulation, if you feel that you have to create a mandala in an odd section, then you can do that as well. Yes, but ideally it is even on its base. You prepare a grid, and based on the grid, you prepare your pattern.
Now, in patterns, do you want to be completely intuitive, or can you first draw a pre-selected pattern? Like nowadays, there are many available in the market, and many people try them first. If you want to live that moment completely spiritually, mentally, physically, and emotionally, then let the patterns flow. Whatever patterns are coming to you from your mind, you can make those. If you do not have confidence or you are not able to understand, then you can paint a pre-designed mandala or create it, which is a different thing, so this is called creative reflection.
Importance of Mandala Patterns
Common figures nowadays you can take Buddha in meditative form, lotus in that, that is very significant, many mandalas are based on the seven chakras of our body, apart from that you will see in figurative nowadays many mandalas are based on animals, peacock, lion, elephant, camel, elephant, horse, so you can definitely go for figurative mandala.
You do it too but how do you draw it, again it is a process, if you want to show it in a creative form then you will create your drawing in that way, if you want to show it in an intuitive form then you will not give yourself any boundaries, like suppose you make a mandala yourself, but do not give it any boundaries except a circle, you just make it, then it is possible that in that emotional form you feel that somewhere in your form there is some glimpse of an animal, some glimpse of a number, some glimpse of a symbol, so then it makes a lot of difference. Sense then it makes a sense otherwise but if you are making an elephant as a deliberation because you like the elephant and it looks very beautiful and I want to make an art of the elephant then it does have a sense then it is like you have to create something you are doing, you are beautifully making an art but theoretically or what we call clinical aid as mandala as a clinical aid that process will not happe.n
Meaning of Colors and Numbers in Mandalas
Mandala and colors go hand in hand. It is also a myth that it is mentioned in many places that colors do not play a role in the Mandala. Colors have great relevance, but again, I will touch on this point that we are living in a moment in the Mandala. Now, suppose the color is red, so red has many meanings. Red is the color of love, aggression, lust, affection, and passion. Okay, right? But what am I feeling in that moment? If at this moment I am very angry, I am angry and I like red, then the meaning of my red changes. I am in a very sweet mood, I am listening to good songs, I am listening to romantic songs, the meaning of my red changes. Colors are definitely significant.
But what am I feeling in that moment, the meaning of that color decides that moment, and not the other way round. Generally, people say that red is a color of love, but not always yellow is a color of vibrancy because the color of the sun is yellow and orange, right, it brings vibrancy and energy, but at the same time, a pale yellow brings illness and unhappiness. Purple is a royal colour in itself. So our learning realisations, which are of higher levels of life, bring that, but purple brings stubble and arrogance. What are you feeling at that moment, and why are you choosing that colour, that matters significantly, and not the colours in totality? So I like red and blue. At that time, somewhere I may want range, but I also want calmness because blue is a colour of train quality. So, which colours are there at that time? Just suppose this is a mandala, if you look in it, there is more tint of blue.
Now, there is a triangle. The triangle is inverted or inverted. It has energy, which we call male or female energy. If it is bent upward, then it is male energy. If it is bent downward, then it is female energy. When two triangles merge, it becomes male and female. Female, you know, is an amalgam of energy, and if it is a square, then the square has four corners. Now, it is so significant that we have four noble truths, four seasons. So, everything, every number has a significance. In my mandala, the luck of one comes a lot because number one is very strong in itself. It is called self-sufficient. It is complete in itself. You will see a lot of infinity numbers in the mandala.
So, eight again is several cause and effects. What we call action karma, so eight is a karma number. So, when numbers are intuitively reflected, number five is very important. It is a very serious number. So, if it is visible in my mandala in a glimpse, then I can judge the personality, but not 100%. Because, again, I am saying the same thing that I am living in that moment. There is something positive and negative in every person. In this moment, maybe I am negative, but I am probably one. I am not a negative person individually, it may be because of the circumstances, it may be because of the situation, something happened due to which I use these things a lot in mandala making, the symbols come automatically, like there is a symbol of a lion.
Understanding the Concept of 10 Worlds
Actually, this concept is based on lower Buddhism; it is a very logical concept, and it is also synced somewhere in the mandala. What are those 10 words? We are in 10 worlds in every moment. Now those 10 worlds start with Hell. Hell, Hunger, Animality, Peace, Tactica, Learning, Realization, Seeking, World, Enlightenment are big words, but we live in this world in every moment. Many times you must have seen that you know, we are very happy right now, we need something, we go for shopping, do some shopping very well and become very happy, right, the very next moment something happens that you know, while leaving, the tire of our car gets punctured and suddenly that happiness turns into hell, right, a good mood gets spoiled, so every moment to moment we oscillate, we keep roaming and come back to that moment.
The same thing happens in the mandala, there is release of emotions, colors, like We have just talked about it, so at some moment I am very happy, at some moment I am very sad and at some moment I don’t have clarity at all, at some moment there is a lot of greed, now greed is not necessary for everyone, it may be about money, it may be about fame, it may be about someone’s love, it may be about attention, it may be about focus, so all that goes on in my mandala, that enlightenment is also there, what are you choosing, that conscious effort, so when we practice any art or any therapy, we move away from the lower worlds and start perceiving the higher worlds consciously, which works with our subconscious mind, right, we do some things intentionally, we do some deliberation, we keep doing some things unconsciously, so when we practice any art or mandala specifically, then the sense of it is that you start now, but after some time when those emotions get vented out, get released, then you feel easy. You start feeling
You come out of that negative self and move around in positivity, maybe it will be for a fraction of a second, maybe it will be for 5-10 minutes only, but you will consciously start choosing that realm, so from 5 minutes to 10 minutes to 15 minutes, 20 minutes, how much time will you extend, that is from one person to another, that is why we say that if you start this practice, then at least give half an hour of the day or start with 15 minutes, in 15 minutes you will start feeling that change but not in one day, it is not like you started today and you know in one day you are feeling good and you qu.it.
It is a constant process, so for 15 minutes, 20 minutes daily you sit with the exercise, make anything, make it symmetrical, make it symmetry, make it figurative, make anything, but let your emotions go, let them release, do not hold them if you feel low Then proceed because many times it happens that we resist, our body resists, we don’t want to do it, so it is not necessary that you have to do mandala at that time, you should leave it because you are not able to handle your emotions, so at that time it is better that don’t do it. Do it at a time when you feel that yes now you can sit, many times it happens that you know you start doing mandala half way, you don’t want to do it, your body resists, your mind resists because there is so much emotional blockage inside you that you are not able to release it, so in that case it happens that try something different, try exercise, try yoga, there are so many different ways to release energies, right try those but don’t try mandala, instead of positive it will give you negative effect, so you have to understand that before doing it, think why you are doing it, is it your calling.
Do it once and then find out whether you liked it or not, and if you liked it, then continue that, then don’t leave it because benefits come from consistency. At least give yourself a 30-day challenge, at least 15 minutes, 30 minutes a day for 30 days, give that challenge to yourself and then see whether this thing works for you and if you feel that you can make a career out of it like me, then go ahead nobody is stopping you, it’s a very good thing, which we call a temporary one, you can proceed with a temporary career as well as a permanent job, not as a full-fledged career, but then you can take it along with any of your major, your profession.
Author’s Book Recommendations
The Red Book by Carl Jung. It is a must-buy book, but you can read it on Kindle at a reduced cost. So, those books I will definitely recommend. And there are a lot of Mandala coloring books on the market. So if you cannot make them, then do color once in your lifetime. To get the intricacy of how deep coloring is done, that too will give you the same satisfaction. You don’t need to make a Mandala, but if you cannot make one, then take any coloring book and try to color a Mandala at least, so that you can color it completely, and then see what difference you feel because that is also a very important aspect of Mandala. And you will find a lot of those coloring books, but there are no hard and fast recommendations for that. So choose whatever you like. If you like animals, then you should choose animal-specific. If you like florals, then you should choose florals. There are specific books on that, too. If you like numbers, then there are books on them as well, and for the general, many books are available on Amazon.
Special Recommendations for Mandala Art “Craftix Mandala Art Kit for Adults“
