Vairocana Triad

Lingyan Si, Jinan

The triad in the Thousand-Buddha hall consists of the cosmic Buddha, Vairocana (center left), flanked on the far left by Amitayus¹, and on the photo right by Bhaisajyaguru.

The images date to the Ming dynasty². Projecting tongues from Vairocana's "puffball" throne are petals that symbolize his radiance in infinite directions.

¹According to The Number One Statues. But Howard (ed.), Chinese Sculpture, p. 389 claims the statue on the viewer's left is Shakyamuni.

²The surface of Vairocana's statue is Ming, but its interior amature is Song. The flanking statues are Ming dynasty, cast in bronze (Howard (ed.), Chinese Sculpture, p. 389).