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OHIO hosts Tibetan Monks on United States tour

Aiden Ryan
December 10, 2025

During the last week of classes, OHIO hosted Tibetan Buddhist monks from Dehradun, India, who are a part of the Tashi Kyil Monastery and are conducting a tour of the United States. Beginning Monday, Dec. 1, the monks set up a merchandise booth and began a sand mandala presentation at the entrance to Alden Library on the second floor.

A crucial part of the tour is raising money for the monastery back home. The booth will help raise money for 50 young monks who are receiving a Buddhist education. The monastery will use the funds raised from the tour to provide the young monks with necessary healthcare and everyday essentials.

Additionally, the monks created a sand mandala on the second floor celebrating religions around the world like Christianity, Taoism, Judaism and Islam, among many others.

Lob Sangmangushri, one of the visiting monks, described the religious symbols on the mandala as a way to promote harmony and respect among people with different religions.

Once finished, the monks destroyed the mandala and dispersed the sand to encourage global peace.  

This is not the monks’ first-time visiting Ohio University, however – their visits date back to the 1980s, wrote Brian Collins, professor in Classics and Religious Studies and Drs. Ram and Sushila Gawande chair in Indian Religion and Philosophy. Collins worked closely with the Libraries to organize the event this year. He discussed how Alden Library’s second floor is a high-traffic area where students could watch the monks as they entered and exited the building.

“For me, it’s important because it gives my students, who are interested in the ways religion shapes the way we see the world, the chance to see and think about the wide range of religious identities,” Collins wrote in an email.

Chad Boeninger, head of User Services, discussed the significance of the event for the Libraries.

“[The] Libraries has always been about sharing knowledge and culture though the materials they own – in this case, we are bringing a part of the global world to our students through this event,” Boeninger wrote in an email.

Did you miss the monks’ visit and are curious about what happened? Check out the event photos below.

To view other upcoming events at the Libraries head to the University Libraries’ website for more information. 
 

Tenpa Thapkhey of the Tashi Kyil Monastery creates a globe out of sand
Tenpa Thapkhey uses colorful sand and careful movements to craft the sand mandala, creating a harmonious globe image. The inside of the mandala featured the Earth, and it was later surrounded by symbols representing religions across the world.
Tashi Kyil Monks Destruction Ceremony of the sand mandala in Alden Library 2025
Before the mandala was destroyed, the monks participated in a ceremony on the second floor of Alden Library. The destruction of the mandala with its various religious symbols promoted global peace for audiences on the Athens Campus.
Tashi Kyil Monks performs at Destruction Ceremony in Alden Library 2025
To mark the destruction ceremony of the sand mandala, Tashi Kyil monks performed in front of students and staff, celebrating the mandala’s meaning and story through music.
Tashi Kyil Monks package destroyed sand mandala for the audience after destruction ceremony
On Dec. 5, 2025, the monks destroyed the sand mandala they had spent the week creating. Monks from Tashi Kyil Monastery packaged the particles of crushed sand into colorful collections for the audience.
Tenpa Thapkhey, a Tashi Kyil Monk, gives Sammy Artino, freshman, a singing bowl
Tenpa Thapkhey, a monk from the Tashi Kyil Monastery, shows Sammy Artino, a freshman studying biological sciences, wildlife and conservation, how to make a singing sound using circular movement around the rim of a bowl. The bowls were a part of the monks’ merchandise table and were available for purchase during their visit.

Photos by Presley Chen / Ohio University Libraries