There are three examples of the Marīcī Mandala:one on the east side of the north wall in Yulin Cave 3,one in cave 5 at the Eastern Thousand-Buddha Grottoes,and one in Mogao cave 3.These art-works were executed according to the Sutra of Great Mārīcī Bodhisattva translated by Dharmabhadra in the Song dynasty,and were supposed to be closely connected with the popularity of the ninth- to tenth-century Indian tantric images and rituals in China.As the research results indicate,Buddhist masters of India like Dharmabhadra,who were translating and spreading tantric scriptures in the Song dynasty,not only directly influenced the Esoteric Buddhism of the Central Plains in the Song dynasty,but also exerted a far-reaching influence on Buddhism in Dunhuang during the Western Xia dynasty.
