“Revolving Sutra Cabinet” (zhuanlun jingzang) is an octagonal sutra cabinet. It has a stone plinth supporting the wooden cabinets and does not revolve. A Vairocana Buddha seated on a lotus is positioned right at the center on top of the sutra cabinet. The off-center position of the sutra cabinet turns out to be a calculated decision, as it creates enough space and angle for a visitor to see the Vairocana Buddha right before s/he enters the hall.
low angle view, central ceiling coffer half-concealing the Vairocana Buddha. The central ceiling coffer has the esoteric (Vajrayana) imagery, half-concealing the Vairocana Buddha on top of the repository. It mimicks a womb-like space, and is painted with colors of reds, yellows, greens, and blues in a square pattern with four gates. These gates are surrounded by an inner ring of lotus petals, a middle ring of vajras (thunderbolts), and an outer ring of flame patterns. Inscribed in the square is a “lotus flower” where Vairocana’s “seed-syllable” written in the center; on each of the eight petals is the “seed-syllables” belonging to the rest four of the Five Tathagatas and the Four Cundis (who usually appear as goddesses and therefore understood as the female manifestations of the Buddhas). The triangular space between the circular lotus flower and the square is filled with four more “seed-syllables,” each standing for one of the Four Heavenly Kings.
