The Kalachakra - Mandala on display in Amaravati

...For this purpose the practitioner uses specific exercises in which he cleanses himself and sublimates his subconscious to bring himself nearer to the divine source, a method known as divine-yoga. As an aid, the practicing person uses pictorial representations of the absolute, e.g. a single Buddha or whole groups of deities, who are positioned in a prescribed way to describe a Mandala and symbolise the pluralistic points of view of Buddhahood.

A Mandala is normally a strictly symmetrical diagram, usually split into four equally large sectors that are composed of concentric circles and squares, whose centre coincides with the middle of the circles. Many Mandalas are effectively an aid for meditation, visualisation and initiation – but this does not necessarily apply to all of them.

Mandalas are also understood to be simple circles or discs containing a sacred middle or those built on their bases, for example the five element discs, which according to a tradition, (Kalachakra Tantra), depicts the lower part of the universe, or the superimposed discs depicting the moon, sun, and the two planets Rahn and Kalagui that serve as the seats of a deity.