Princess Wencheng Temple: Vairocana Buddha and the Eight Great Bodhisattvas

CHINA, Qinghai, Yushu

This statue grouping is located in the main hall of the Princess Wencheng Temple, which follows the Drikung Kagyu school. It features Vairocana Buddha and the Eight Great Bodhisattvas, a common theme in early Tibetan Buddhist sculpture. Vairocana is in the middle, flanked by four Bodhisattvas on each side. To the left, Samantabhadra and Vajrapani are on the top level, while the bottom level features Manjusri and Sarvanivarana Viskambhin Bodhisattva. The top level to the right displays Maitreya and Akasagarbha, and the bottom features Ksitigarbha and Avalokitesvara.
Vairocana has a large usnisa circled by a three-leafed crown and wears a cross-collar robe to which the coiling dragon pattern was added later. The hands are in the dhyana (meditation) mudra as he is sits cross-legged on a lotus throne. Two lions face back to back under the throne. The nimbus and mandorla are both decorated with flames and composite flower patterns. The Bodhisattvas wear cylindrical crowns and stand in leather boots on lotus pedestals. Their nimbuses are also painted with flames and flowers.
Though the sculptural style dates to the Tibetan Empire (circa 7th–9th century), the paint was added later. An inscription confirms that Ksitigarbha holds a lotus flower in his hands, which differs from traditional images; however, a standing Bodhisattva holding a lotus is a universal feature in early Tibetan sculptures.