Reliquaries from the Five-story Stone Pagoda in Wanggung-ri, Iksan

Objects found in 1965, when the five-storey stone pagoda at Wanggung-ri, Iksan (a national treasure) — on a site known as that of a Mahan royal palace — was dismantled for repair. They were in the base that carried the pagoda and on the upper surface of the first-storey roof stone, and are thought to date from the period between Baekje and Unified Silla. Of three holes cut in the top of the base in a triangle, the east held a gilt-bronze standing Buddha with its mandorla and pedestal and a bronze bell rung in Buddhist ritual; the north held incense; the third had already been looted. Two holes at the centre of the first-storey roof stone held, respectively, a green glass relic bottle stoppered with a lotus-bud cap, and a Diamond Sutra engraved on nineteen sheets of gold, bound like a book with two gold cords. All of these were enshrined in double gilt-bronze boxes. The outer box served only to protect the inner box and its contents; it is undecorated and its lacquer has flaked. The inner box that held the green relic bottle has a half-open lotus bud on its lid, surrounded by a beaded pattern; the inner box that held the sutra has a gold ring for a handle on its lid and is carved with chrysanthemums. The gilding of both is complete.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Iksan, Jeonbuk

Designation

National Treasure · 국보