The Tibetan word for "mandala" (dkyil-'khor) literally means "that which encircles a center." A "center" here signifies a meaning, and "that which encircles it" - a mandala - is a round symbol that represents the meaning. For a more extensive explanation of the mandala in context of Tibtean Buddhist Vajrayana see the excellent article The Meaning and Use of a Mandala at Berzin Archives.

There are many types of mandalas, used for various purposes in both the sutra and tantra practices of Buddhism. Here we are only dealing with the cloth mandala (ras-bris-kyi dkyil-'khor), which is a two-dimensional depiction of the palace and environment, somewhat like an architectural blueprint, painted on a piece of cloth or paper, and usually placed inside an ornately painted square wooden frame with open sides and a roof.

When it comes to the residents of the mandala, they are sometimes representend as (1) figures or (2) iconic symbols (drawn from the attributes of the deities); or a combination of both.

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