In January 2019, Tibetan Buddhist monks of the Labrang Tashi Kyil Monastery in Dehradun, India, created this sacred World Peace Sand Mandala at the Drikung Dharma Surya Center. Constructed from millions of grains of colored sand meticulously laid on a flat platform, it represents a unique, esoteric, and exquisite artistic tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. Its circular form symbolizes unity and wholeness, and its symbols carry multiple meanings that represent the interconnectedness of all things. Originally designed and constructed for St. Paul Catholic Center's Interfaith Peace Ceremony, it was part of a gathering in which people of many faiths offered prayers of peace in union with His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lama blessed the mandala and urged monks to continue creating it to spread peace and harmony throughout the world. Drawn on a mythical earth, it includes the four primary colors of Buddhism, the Eight Auspicious Symbols of Tibetan Buddhism, symbols of the world's great religions, and at its center the Four Perfect Friends. Its purpose is to generate compassion and inner peace, bring purification and healing, symbolize impermanence, and encourage people everywhere to live together in loving-kindness, compassion, and harmony. In the story of the Four Perfect Friends, the elephant, monkey, rabbit, and bird competed to see who was greatest, teaching that each has different talents and all can live harmoniously.