A total of four caves have been recently found by an archaeological survey at the Dingqionglakang grottoes in Rutog County, Ngari Prefecture, which is located in the northwestern Tibet. The Cave No. 1 is a worship cave, while the other 3 caves might have been used for dhyana, or meditation. In other words, these four caves consist of a functionally complete unit for Buddhist rituals. Murals inside the cave No. 1 includes three groups of mandala images, one group of local guardian deities, two Vajra guardians, scenes of astamahasmasana (eight great charnel grounds) and hell, portraits of donors, etc. These grottoes are dated between the 10th and 12th century A. D., and can be viewed as one of the most important grottoes during the early stage of second Buddhist period.
