A glass box stands as the center of attention among the exhibits in one of the rooms in The Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art. Within the box sits a sand mandala, bright with vivid rainbow colors; the mandalas draw scores of people to the Johnson, but will be deconstructed Saturday.

“This has been the most popular attraction, with the biggest crowds. Some people stand and pray anywhere from 15 minutes to half an hour,” said Bob Drake, a security guard for the Johnson. “They are very enamored of the mandalas. They just stand, gazing.”

Monks from the Namgyal Monastery in Dharamsala, India and from the Ithaca branch of the monastery constructed the two eye-catching mandalas. The Kalachakra Sand Mandala and the Thread Cross Mandala, both on display in the Johnson, were created by the monks to give temporary housing for Tantric Buddhist deities, according to the description of the mandala in the Johnson.

“It’s pretty unbelievable that they were able to make a picture with so much detail out of sand. To me, this is representative that sand taken alone does not mean much, but a detailed picture can emerge out of grains of sand anyways,” said Peter Till ’11, “ I can’t imagine how much patience that takes.”

The sand designs are formed from traditional Tibetan iconography, such as geometric shapes and historical Buddhist spiritual symbols, according to information provided by the Johnson.

“I am taken by the string mandala. It is really about a sense of ease and calm that these kind of representations evoke,” said Metta Winter, a writer/consultant for the Office of Publications and Marketing who was viewing the mandala exhibit. “It is more a sensation of feeling inside, the flow of life.”

Winter was most enthusiastic about the mandala’s colors, which, with the lines and dots, represent a critical part of the Buddhist philosophy and deity, according to the Namgyal Monastery website.

“The color, the vibrancy of the colors, I find sustaining,” Winter said. “Hot, vibrant primary colors. It is not drab; there is life.”

The Namgyal Monastery website went on to describe that in order to release the deity’s blessings to the world, the mandala is eventually dismantled. To emphasize the impermanence of all things and non-attachment, the sand is thrown in water. This will occur on Oct. 13, when the monks will gather up the colored sands and, with a procession, carry and discard the sands at Beebe Lake.

“I think it is great what the Tibetan monks are doing, illustrating Buddhism through the mandalas,” said Senthil Mudaliar, president of the Seven Spirit Kung-Fu, a Vietnamese Buddhist based organization.