There are four varieties in the iconographic combination of vairocana. Among them, the combination of dhyana-mudra vairocana and eight bodhisattvas——which has a total of 6 cases in data that have been found so far——is the most typical one. In the image, Dhyana-mudra vairocana is situated in the center and eight bodhisattvas line up on the left and right sides. This arrangement is identical to the principle of combination in other images dating to the Tubo period. The combination of these nine figurines presents a mandala according to the Tubo version of Esoteric Buddhism sutras. By comparing the iconography to other relevant sutras, the author concludes that the combination of dhyana-mudra vairocana and eight bodhisattvas in the Tubo period was generated under the influence of variocana workship which can be found in Dunhuang Tubo manuscripts such as P. T. 7a and P. T. 108.
