Reliquaries from the Three-story Stone Pagoda of Bulguksa Temple

The reliquary objects found in the relic chamber inside the stone pagoda of Bulguksa in Gyeongju when it was dismantled for repair in October 1966. With the outer reliquary placed at the centre were spherical silver inner and outer relic boxes, a gilt-bronze relic box, the Great Dharani Sutra of Immaculate and Pure Light, and beads of many kinds. Around the reliquary lay bronze flying celestials, a round bronze mirror and a quarter of another, a wooden pagoda, comma-shaped jade jewels, beads and fragrant wood. On the floor of the base outside the reliquary a bundle of paper wrapped in silk was found, but the paper has fused into a lump and its text cannot be read. The outer reliquary is pierced on its four sides with symmetrical scrolls, and the base that carries it is pierced as well. Scrolls are carved on the roof, and lotus decorates its peak, corners and ridges; leaf-shaped ornaments hang from the eaves. With its finely pierced lid set with jewels, it is a masterpiece of eighth-century reliquary work. The silver inner and outer boxes, with egg-shaped lids, are gilded and decorated with lavish lotus in the mid-eighth-century manner and with ring-punched ground. The square gilt-bronze relic box is incised on front and back with a pagoda between standing bodhisattvas, and on its sides with guardian kings. Its lid has a small knob shaped as a three-tiered pagoda, and inside it was a small relic bottle carved from juniper. The Great Dharani Sutra found here, printed in the mid-eighth century, is the oldest woodblock print known in the world: a scroll about 8 cm wide and about 620 cm long, with eight or nine characters to the line. When found it was corroded and oxidised, with parts lost, and it deteriorated further over twenty years, so it was fully repaired and restored in 1988–89. The Seokgatap in which it was enshrined is known to have been built when Bulguksa was rebuilt in 751, so the sutra is accepted as printed about then. Characters used only during the reign of Empress Wu of Tang China also appear in the text, which helps to date it.

AI Translation

Visiting

Opening hours

09:00-18:00 (Exit time 19:00) * No pets allowed

Closed

N/A (Open all year round)

Admission

Free

Parking

Available

Information

+82-54-746-9913

Visitor information: Korea Tourism Organization · KOGL Type 1

Where it is

Region

Gyeongju, Gyeongbuk

Designation

National Treasure · 국보