TIBETAN Buddhist monks will perform their traditional music and dances at Portland's Verne prison next week.

The monks from the Tashi Lhunpo monastery in India will also perform at a Weymouth school and a community hall on Portland later in the week.

The Verne's chaplain, The Rev Bill Cave, said the monks will create a sand mandala - a colourful, circular symbol representing the transitory nature of life - in the prison's grounds for the inmates during their visit.

Mr Cave said the monks will be doing workshops on meditation and lifestyle choices with some of the inmates, adding that there are currently around 20 Buddhists incarcerated at The Verne.

Mr Cave said: "The monks will also be constructing a sand mandala while they are here.

"It is a symbol of peace and is a prayerful construction with an intricate design used in Tibetan Buddhism.

"Tibetan Buddhism is much more expressive through dance, music and these kinds of designs and symbols than other forms of the religion."

Mr Cave said the monks will end their visit with an evening dance and musical performance, which usually ends with a quieter period for reflection and meditation.

The monks will perform at All Saints School in Sunnyside Road, Wyke Regis from 7pm onwards on Wednesday (23) and at the community hall in Straits, Easton from 7pm onwards on Thursday (24).

Tickets for the shows are £6 each, or £4 with concessions, and are available by calling The Verne's chaplaincy office on 01305 825198.

The performance for the Verne inmates will take place on Tuesday (22).

The Tashi Lhunpo monastery was established in the southern Indian state of Karnataka in 1972 after it became too dangerous for the monks to continue practising Buddhism in Tibet following the Chinese occupation.

The monastery, which is home to 300 monks including Tulkus or reincarnated Lamas, is the seat of the Panchen Lama, the second-highest ranking Lama in Tibetan Buddhism after the Dalai Lama.

The monastery is a non-profit making organisation which aims to educate people about Buddhism and the heritage of Tibet and also maintains a modern school.