Stage 3: Preparations for stupaStupa filling

Stupas created according to the Tibetan tradition must be filled. Following things are placed inside of a Stupa: two Impeccable Mandalas, rolled sheets of paper with mantras written on them (mantra rolls), different substances connecting a Stupa with the place where it is built (e.g. herbs and stones of this region) and tsa-tsas, relief forms of Buddhas or Stupas moulded from clay or plaster and dried. Minimum 3,500 tsa-tsas and the 1.000 of mantra rolls must be made to fill a one Stupa. Later, but before assembling a Stupa, a Buddhist master should perform different rituals consecrating artifacts and substances meant for filling it.

The first course on making mantra rolls for the Siberian Stupas was held in the Krasnoyarsk Buddhist Centre in November 2015. It was guided by Svetlana Belyaeva, an expert on the Buddhist art and coordinator of the travelling exhibition project Treasures of Himalayas. In January 2016, Eva Javorszky from Austria passed the knowledge on the technology of tsa-tsa making. The courses were attended by practitioners from Achinsk, Abakan, Irkutsk, Moscow, Tomsk and Omsk. Preparations for Stupa filling continue. There’s a lot of work ahead.

Making mantra rolls

Making tsa-tsas