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On 31st October at the Auditorium of Baha’i House of Worship (Lotus Temple) Lithuanian modern art project “Mandala. Temple of Flowers” started it’s journey in India. This project is a joint performance of the textile artists group “Baltos kandys” (Miglė Lebednykaitė, Laura Pavilonytė, Austė Jurgelionytė, Julija Vosyliūtė) and the dancers (Krsitina Dolinina and Marija Vojevudzkaja). During the performance right in front of the audience from the flowers of wool felt the Mandala is shaped – the graphic display of the world. And in paralel the dancers portray the image of The Woman creating the world from chaos which is well-defined in the traditions of  the ancient Indian temple dancer (devadasi) and the priestess of the ancient Lithuanian pagan temple.

The opening night of „Mandala“ on 31st October was the official celebration the 20th Anniversary of Diplomatic Relations between the Republic of Lithuania and the Republic of India. The Guest of Honour of the evening was Dr. Suresh Goel, Director General of Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), co-sposor of the group of artists from Lithuania. The anchor of the event was the Director of the Delhi International Arts Festival, also a renowned dancer Pratibha Prahlad, who emphasized that Lithuanian „Mandala“ became the jewel of the Delhi International Arts Festival.
In his speech Dr. S. Goel emphasized that „Mandala“ is the first cultural project of Lithuania being co-sponsored by the ICCR, and promised to further support the Lithuanian art in India. The Charge d‘Affaires of the Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania in India Mrs. Diana Mickevičienė stressed that this performance unveils very beautifully the similarities of the two cultures of Lithuania and India, and that the universal values and the language of art, transcend through the differences of cultures, - that is precisely why this project, specially created for India is dedicated to the 20th Anniversary of the diplomatic relations between India and Lithuania being commemorated this year.
Over 300 people watched the performance. Everyone appreciated the unique composition – dance being combined with textile art, also very modern interpretation by the artists of the traditional Indian Mandala, its 'translation' into universal language by using the art as a medium.
Modern art performance „Mandala. Temple of Flowers“ is participating in Delhi International Arts Festival. On 1st and 2nd of November two street performances will be organised at the India Gate, the symbol of Delhi, and in the cultural space of „Select Citywalk“ Mall. On the 3rd of November „Mandala“ will be performed in the village of artists „Zorba the Buddha“. Lithuanian artists will also visit the schools and will organise the wool felting seminar. On 6th November „Mandala“ will be presented in Kolkata, the Rabindranath Tagore Centre and on 9th November – in Kathmandu.