The Travels of Marco Polo,(1271-1295) Part V: Traveling Through Tibet


He tells us, too, of Tibet, that wide country "vanquished and wasted by the Khan for the space of twenty days' journey"—a great wilderness wanting people, but overrun by wild beasts. Here were great Tibetan dogs as large as asses. -A Book of Discovery

Marco Polo described the Buddhist monks in the mountains of Tibet.
photo from Craft Knife

If you would like to learn more about modern Buddhist monks, Craft Knife has a wonderful post all about the Tibetan Mongolian Buddhist Cultural Center and a group of Gomang monks who visited the center from their own monastery in South India. She and other homeschoolers were invited to spend the day with them. They made little prayer flags, worked on sand art and (clay) butter art. The monks also performed a Snow Lion dance. This was such an enjoyable introduction to Buddhist monks.

We also enjoyed making mandalas.
Although mandala (which literally means circle) is usually a geometric configuration of symbols, we decided to make patterns using natural materials.
We collected leaves and flowers from our backyard...
and pressed them between the layers of a laminating pocket.


We also looked at Tibetan palace doors, which are so beautiful. The tassels on the door represented the different levels of Lamas who could enter the palace.

gave me the idea of making an art project out of these doors.


All student made art projects.

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