1. Unit 3 - India
Hindu Mandalas

2. Warm-Up Share your Hinduism Acrostic Poem with your group.
Create a new group acrostic poem using the various components from the entire group. Make them pretty enough for display.
You have 15 minutes from the late bell to complete the poem.

3. Review 1. Hinduism 2. Brahman 3. Deities (gods/goddesses) 4. Dharma
5. Karma
6. Samsara
7. Reincarnation
A. Reborn
B. universal spirit
C. consequences of your actions
D. life cycle
E. religion from India with nearly 1 billion followers
F. Divine law or rules
G. representatives of Brahman: three main are Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva

4. Mandala
Mandala means "circle" in Sanskrit. Mandalas are circular diagrams that originated with Hinduism and are used in both Hinduism and Buddhism to increase spiritual awareness.

5. Mandala
Hindu mandalas usually consist of a combination of lines and triangles within a circle and a square, and designs range from simple to very complex.
Mandalas symbolize the circular nature of the universe, and people often use mandalas to focus themselves during meditation (prayer).

6. Traditionally, mandalas are divided into four quadrants.
Each detail in all four quadrants of the mandala faces the center, so that it is facing the resident deity of the mandala.

7. Activity
Create a Mandala with symbols representing basic Hindu beliefs.
Brainstorm symbols which can represent each of the following: Brahman, Deities, Dharma, Karma, Samsara/Reincarnation.
Once the symbols have been decided upon, begin designing your mandala.
Use color
Glue onto construction paper
Write a 5 to 7 sentence explanation of the mandala. What do the symbols mean and why?