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Cave #130
Beishan Grottoes, Dazu
This fierce Chinese Buddhist goddess carries a variety of weapons that are characteristic of Hindu Durga: Shiva's spear, Vishnu's chakra, bow and arrow, and even an aegis. By this time, Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism had incorporated a great deal of Hindu iconography into its pantheon. For example, the Hindu chakra (weapon and sun symbol) became the Buddhist dharmachakra (Wheel of the Law).
This sculpture is often (as of 2013) identified as Marici on Chinese-language websites1; but lacking Marici's boar vahana, and with other iconographic difficulties, it seems more likely to me that it actually represents a fierce form of Tara2.
1I thank correspondent David McBride for kindly pointing this out.
2Not only iconographically better, but consistent with the site context - Guanyin/Avalokiteshvara is the principal female deity at Beishan.
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