*Mandara 曼荼羅 (mandala) of the Sutra for Praying for Rain. A variety of specific mandala *besson mandara 別尊曼荼羅, based on the Daiungyō kiu danpō 大雲経祈雨壇法, a text used in rituals to pray for rain and related to the Daiunrin shōugyō 大雲輪請雨経 (Sk: Makhamegha Sutra), also abbreviated to Shōugyō, whence the name Shōugyō mandara. Also known as the shōuhō mandara 請雨法曼荼羅 (Mandala of the Ritual for Praying for Rain). In this mandala, *Shaka 釈迦, displaying the *tenbōrin-in 転法輪印, is depicted seated inside or in front of a central pavilion representing the palace of the sea dragon king; he is flanked to the right by *Kannon 観音 and to the left by Kongōshu 金剛手 (Sk: Vajrapani), while in the foreground are three dragon kings. Shaka, Kannon (or Rengeshu 蓮華手; Sk: Padmapani) and Kongōshu form a typical triad dating back to the Buddhist art of Mathura in India, and they later evolved into the three divisions or "families" known as the Buddha family butsu-bu 仏部, Lotus family renge-bu 蓮華部 and Adamantine family kongō-bu 金剛部.
This mandala lacks the geometrical features that mark later types, and the small-scale depiction of deities centered on a triad as part of a landscape. May be considered to approximate the original format of the mandala. Typical examples of the Shōugyō mandara are a line drawing *hakubyō 白描 preserved at Tōji 東寺 in Kyoto, and that in the *Kakuzenshō 覚禅抄, a ritual compendium, but there are minor differences in the disposition of the deities. There are also some rare examples of a shōuhō shiki mandara 請雨法敷曼荼羅 in which the triad centered on Shaka is omitted and only the dragon kings are depicted .