I am intrigued and amazed by the sacred art of the sand mandala but even more intrigued by the profound meaning behind it.
The sand mandala is a sacred art piece that represents the impermanence of all things and the offering of the whole universe to the Buddhas. Sand mandalas often take days to make with much effort and skills. After it's done with prayer and rituals performed, the sand mandala will then be destroyed. It is common for the samsaric mind to not want to destroy something so beautiful when we have made put so much effort into it but instead to preserve it.
Here is a video where the sand mandala has been dissolved in few minutes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dC4VUqRuHBs&feature=player_embedded#!
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dC4VUqRuHBs&feature=player_embedded#!)
Something that takes a few days to do are destroyed within a few minutes. This is to show the impermanence of things. The lesson is what you may have can be lost or destroyed any time.
There are so many situations in life which resembles this concept. Can you think of any?