Rock-carved Seated Buddha in Bukji-ri, Bonghwa

At Bukji-ri, Bonghwa, North Gyeongsang, there was a great Silla temple called Hanjeol, and it is said that 27 temples stood nearby, where some five hundred monks practised. Here a huge room-like space was hollowed out of the natural rock for a Buddha to sit in, and a rock-carved Buddha 4.3 m high was carved within it in very high relief. The broad, large face is full of volume, smiling all over, with a forceful presence. The shoulders seem somewhat hunched but the body is commanding, and the robe over both shoulders forms thick U-shaped folds on the chest, passes over both arms and hangs long, covering the pedestal on which it sits. The right hand is raised to the chest and the left lowered to the knee, both rendered large, adding to its grandeur. The mandorla behind is divided into halo and body aureole, with small Buddhas here and there and a fine lotus at the centre of the halo. The softness of the face and body suggests a date in the later seventh century. With the rock-carved Buddha triad and seated Buddha in Gaheung-dong, Yeongju (a treasure), it represents the Buddha style of the Yeongju–Bonghwa area in this period and leaves a great mark on the history of Silla Buddhist sculpture.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Bonghwa, Gyeongbuk

Designation

National Treasure · 국보