A variety of *besson mandara 別尊曼荼羅 that evolved from the cult centered on the Butchō sonshō darani 仏頂尊勝陀羅尼 (Sk: Usnisavijaya-dharan; Taishō Nos. 967, etc.). It is used in the Sonshō rite, Sonshōhō 尊勝法, which is performed for longevity and the absolution of sins, and among the many types of besson mandara, examples of the Sonshō mandara are particularly numerous.
There are three main types of this mandala *mandara 曼荼羅. In the first type *Dainichi 大日 is depicted in the center surrounded by the eight great *Butchō 仏頂 (Buddha-Crown), while *Fudō Myōō 不動明王 and *Gōzanze Myōō 降三世明王, the two chief *myōō 明王, are depicted to the lower left and lower right respectively. Fudō Myōō is drawn inside a triangle and Gōzanze Myōō inside a semicircle because they are considered to correspond to the elements of fire and wind, which are symbolized by a triangle and a semicircle. There are many examples of this variety of Sonshō mandara, including those at Hōjuin 宝寿院, Mt. Kōya 高野 in Wakayama Prefecture, and Daigoji 醍醐寺 in Kyoto and two each at Onjōji 園城寺 (Miidera 三井寺) in Shiga Prefecture and Tōji 東寺 (Kyōōgokokuji 教王護国寺) in Kyoto. In the second type Dainichi is surrounded not by the eight great Butchō but by the eight bodhisattvas *bosatsu 菩薩 listed in the Hachidaibosatsu mandarakyō 八大菩薩曼荼羅経 (Taishō No. 1167); however, no polychrome examples of this mandara have, been reported, and there exist only line drawings *hakubyō 白描. The third type omits the eight great Butchō altogether and consists only of the triad of Dainichi, Fudō Myōō and Gōzanze Myōō; an example is found at Kongōji 金剛寺 in Osaka, and the three images of these deities enshrined in the kondō 金堂 of the same temple are a well-known example of a three-dimensional representation of this mandara.