Mandala

Maṇḍala means "circle" in Sanskrit. Mandalas are concentric diagrams, which have a spiritual and ritual meaning in both Buddhism and Hinduism.

Here we use TikZ for drawing such geometric patterns. The fading slows down the compilation.

Edit and compile if you like:

% Mandala
% Author: Elena Botoeva
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[margin=0.3cm, paperwidth=8.4cm, paperheight=8.4cm]{geometry}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usetikzlibrary{shadows}
\usetikzlibrary{fadings}

\tikzfading[name=fade out, inner color=transparent!0,
  outer color=transparent!100]

\def\petal { 
  [rounded corners=0.5] %
  (-1,0)%
  .. controls (-1,0.6) and (-0.07,0.8).. (0,1)%
  .. controls (0.07,0.8) and (1,0.6).. (1,0)%
  .. controls (0.7,-1) and (-0.7,-1).. (-1,0)%
}

%%%%% circles in the background %%%%%
\def\background[#1,#2]{
  \fill[#1] (0,0) circle (3.9);
  \fill[#2] (0,0) circle (1);
}

%%%%% star and small circle in the center %%%%%
\def\center[#1]{
  \foreach \a in {51.4285,102.857,...,360} { %
    \draw[color=yellow,rotate=\a,fill=#1]
    (-0.08,0) -- (0,0.46) -- (0.08,0); %
  }
  \draw[color=yellow,fill=#1] (0,0) circle (0.1);
}

%%%%%%%%%% Mandala with fixed colouring %%%%%%%%%%
\def \mandala {
  \background[red!30!blue!70!black,blue!70!yellow!50];

  % ysh - yshift
  % xs - xscale
  % ys - yscale
  % af - first angle in foreach
  % as - second angle in foreach
  % y - number in the color specification after yellow
  % b - number in the color specification before blue
  % r - number in the color specification of the shading after red
  % bl - number in the color specification of the shading before black
  \foreach \ysh/\xs/\ys/\af/\as/\y/\b/\w/\r/\bl in {%
    3.06/0.72/0.8/   25.71425/51.4285/    70/100/100/ 100/100,%
    2.34/1/0.9/        25.71425/77.14275/   6/90/92/       80/80,%
    1.8/0.8/0.9/       51.4285/102.857/       0/75/100/     60/70,%
    1.5/0.6/0.6/       25.71425/77.14275/   0/55/100/     40/60,%
    1.1/0.53/0.58/   51.4285/102.857/       0/40/100/     20/50,%
    0.8/0.37/0.45/   25.71425/77.14275/   0/45/85/       20/40,%
    0.53/0.1/0.24/   25.71425/77.14275/   0/10/100/     0/30,%
    0.49/0.22/0.32/ 51.4285/102.857/       0/10/100/     0/50%
  }
  {
    \foreach \a in {\af,\as,...,360}
    {
      \begin{scope}[rotate=\a,shift={(0,\ysh)},xscale=\xs,yscale=\ys]
        \draw[color=yellow,fill=yellow!\y!red!\b!blue!\w] %
        [drop shadow={shadow xshift=0.5pt, shadow yshift=-0.5pt}]
        \petal;
      \end{scope}
      
      \begin{scope}[transform canvas={rotate=\a},shift={(0,\ysh)},xscale=\xs,yscale=\ys]
        \clip \petal; %
        \fill[path fading=fade out,fill=red!\r!blue!\bl!black, opacity=0.7]%
        (0,-0.35) ellipse (1.2 and 0.75);
        \fill[path fading=fade out,fill=red!\r!blue!\bl!black, opacity=0.3]%
        (0,-0.2) ellipse (1.2 and 0.4);

        \fill[path fading=fade out,fill=red!\r!blue,opacity=0.2] %
        (-0.4,0.6) -- (0,0.9) -- (0.4,0.6);
      \end{scope}
    }
  }

  \center[blue]
}
%%%%%%%%%% End of Mandala with fixed colouring %%%%%%%%%%

%%%%% one layer of petals %%%%%
\def\mainbody{
  \foreach \a in {\af,\as,...,360}
  {
    \begin{scope}[rotate=\a,shift={(0,\ysh)},xscale=\xs,yscale=\ys]
      \draw[color=yellow,fill=\c] %
      [drop shadow={shadow xshift=0.5pt, shadow yshift=-0.5pt}]
      \petal;
    \end{scope}

    % fadings
    \begin{scope}[transform canvas={rotate=\a}, shift={(0,\ysh)},xscale=\xs,yscale=\ys]
      \clip \petal; %
      \fill[path fading=fade out,fill=\fc, opacity=0.7]%
      (0,-0.35) ellipse (1.2 and 0.75);
      \fill[path fading=fade out,fill=\fc, opacity=0.3]%
      (0,-0.2) ellipse (1.2 and 0.4);
      \fill[path fading=fade out,fill=\fc,opacity=0.2] %
      (-0.4,0.6) -- (0,0.9) -- (0.4,0.6);
    \end{scope}
  }
}

%%%%%%%%%%% Mandalas with parametrized colouring %%%%%%%%%%
% #1 - the color of the outer most (first) layer
% #2 - the color of the third layer
% #3 - the color of the fifth layer
% #4 - the color of the seventh layer
% #5 - the color of the fading, gets denser closer to the center
\def \mandalac[#1,#2,#3,#4,#5]{
  \background[#3!30!#4!70!#5,#4!70!#2!50];

  % ysh - yshift
  % xs - xscale
  % ys - yscale
  % af - first angle in foreach
  % as - second angle in foreach
  % c - color of the petal
  % fc - color of the fading
  \foreach \ysh/\xs/\ys/\af/\as/\c/\fc in {%
    3.06/0.72/0.8/   25.71425/51.4285  /#1/#1!50!#2!90!#5,%
    2.34/1/0.9/        25.71425/77.14275/#1!50!#2/#2!80!#5,%
    1.8/0.8/0.9/       51.4285/102.857    /#2/#2!50!#3!70!#5,%
    1.5/0.6/0.6/       25.71425/77.14275/#2!50!#3/#3!60!#5,%
    1.1/0.53/0.58/   51.4285/102.857    /#3/#3!50!#4!50!#5,%
    0.8/0.37/0.45/   25.71425/77.14275/#3!50!#4/#4!40!#5,%
    0.53/0.1/0.24/   25.71425/77.14275/#4/#4!50!#5,%
    0.49/0.22/0.32/ 51.4285/102.857    /#4/#4!50!#5%
  }
  {
    \mainbody
  }
  \center[#4]
}

% #1 - the color of the outer most (first) layer
% #2 - the color of the second layer
% #3 - the color of the third layer
% #4 - the color of the forth layer
% #5 - the color of the fifth layer
% #6 - the color of the sixth layer
% #7 - the color of the seventh layer
% #8 - the color of the fading, gets denser closer to the center
\def \mandalab[#1,#2,#3,#4,#5,#6,#7,#8]{
  \background[#6!30!#7!70!#8,#7!70!#4!50];

  % ysh - yshift
  % xs - xscale
  % ys - yscale
  % af - first angle in foreach
  % as - second angle in foreach
  % c - color of the petal
  % fc - color of the fading
  \foreach \ysh/\xs/\ys/\af/\as/\c/\fc in {%
    3.06/0.72/0.8/   25.71425/51.4285  /#1/#2!90!#8,%
    2.34/1/0.9/        25.71425/77.14275/#2/#3!90!#8,%
    1.8/0.8/0.9/       51.4285/102.857    /#3/#4!80!#8,%
    1.5/0.6/0.6/       25.71425/77.14275/#4/#5!80!#8,%
    1.1/0.53/0.58/   51.4285/102.857    /#5/#6!70!#8,%
    0.8/0.37/0.45/   25.71425/77.14275/#6/#7!70!#8,%
    0.53/0.1/0.24/   25.71425/77.14275/#7/#7!50!#8,%
    0.49/0.22/0.32/ 51.4285/102.857    /#7/#7!50!#8%
  }
  {
    \mainbody
  }
  \center[#7]
}
%%%%%%%%%%% End of Mandalas with parametrized colouring %%%%%%%%%%

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% BEGIN DOCUMENT %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
\pagestyle{empty}
\setlength{\parindent}{0pt}
\begin{document}
\tikz\mandala;

\tikz\mandalac[magenta!30!,magenta,purple,violet,];

\tikz\mandalac[blue!40!black,violet,purple,pink,];

\tikz\mandalac[lime!90!black,yellow!95!black,orange,red,];

\tikz\mandalac[green!80!black,yellow,pink,purple!90!,red];

\tikz\mandalab[green!50!black, green!60!black, green!70!black!80!, green!50!,
  green!10!, pink!40!, red!40!,];

\tikz\mandalab[blue!30!black, blue!40!black, blue!60!black, blue!70!black!80!,
  blue!50!, yellow!40!, yellow!70!,];
\end{document}