7 Tibetan monks creating World Peace Sand Mandala in Kansas City on The Plaza

Seven Tibetan monks from the Drepung Gomang Monastery in South India have embarked on their first North American tour in five years.

Kansas City is their first stop.

The monks are constructing a sand mandala at the Temple Buddhist Center, located within the Unity Temple on the Country Club Plaza.

The monks are dedicating themselves to painting with grains of sand, forming the mandala as an intricate visual prayer.

Each grain of sand, representing a tear shed by those affected by violence, falls onto the mandala's surface, blending into artwork that embodies unity, nonviolence, and compassion.

The message carried by the monks holds a special significance for Kansas City, which has seen an increase of homicides in the past five years.

"It seems like the world is very much at odds," said Victor Dougherty, the director of the Temple Buddhist Center. "There's so many negative things going on and so in this practice, if you stop the wars inside, you stop the wars outside.