The UTSA Institute of Texan Cultures will welcome the monks of Drepung Loseling Monastery, who will prepare a mandala sand painting on the main exhibit floor.

Endorsed by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and with the direct guidance of Drepung Loseling Monastery in India, the tours make a contribution to world peace and healing through sacred art.

The mandalas are used as tools for reconsecrating the earth and healing its inhabitants. To construct the mandala, millions of grains of sand are painstakingly laid into place on a flat platform over a period of days or weeks. They are formed of a traditionally prescribed iconography that includes geometric shapes and a multitude of ancient spiritual symbols. When finished, the mandala is destroyed to symbolize the impermanence of all that exists, and the colored sands are swept up and poured into a nearby river or stream where the waters carry the healing energies throughout the world. MORE: MysticalArtsofTibet.org.

• Sept. 28, 11 a.m.: Opening ceremonies; viewing 12 - 5 p.m.
• Sept. 29, Viewing 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.; 6 p.m. Lecture, "Symbolism of the Sand Mandala." Regular operating hours extended to 8 p.m.
• Sept. 30, Viewing 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.; Community Mandala, 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.; 6 p.m.: Lecture, "Tibet Today." Regular operating hours extended to 8 p.m.
• Oct. 1, Viewing 12 – 3 p.m.; 3 p.m.: Closing ceremonies and dispersing of sands. Guests present will get a small bag or vial of sand to take home. Procession to San Antonio River at the Convention Center lagoon.