Three-story Stone Pagoda in Gwandeok-ri, Uiseong

This is a stone pagoda with a three-story body raised on a two-tiered base, richly decorated in every part. On each of the four sides of the lower tier of the base, a single pillar-shaped carving is set in the centre, and in the eight compartments created by these carvings, flying celestial beings are carved in relief. On the upper tier of the base, a pillar shape is likewise carved at the centre of each of the four sides, with the Four Heavenly Kings carved to the left of each pillar and heavenly beings to the right. Both the Four Heavenly Kings and the heavenly beings are deities who protect and guard the Buddha's law, and combining them in this way is a rare feature, apparently a change introduced in the late Unified Silla period. The pagoda body has its body stones and roof stones each carved from a single block, and the four sides of the first-story body stone are carved all the way around with images of bodhisattvas. The supports on the underside of the roof stones are four-tiered on the first and second stories and reduced to three-tiered on the third; the eaves run horizontally before lifting slightly at the four corners. The finial at the top has been lost, and only the square stone base that once supported it remains, now placed upside down, which appears to be a later disturbance. What the stone resting above it is meant to be is unknown. Originally, four stone lions, two male and two female, stood at the four corners of the top of the upper base, but only two of these (the treasure-designated Stone Lions of Gwandeok-dong, Uiseong) survive and are now kept in the Gyeongju National Museum. This practice of placing animal figures on a pagoda first appears in the molded-brick-style pagoda of Bunhwangsa Temple in Gyeongju, and the style continued through to the late Unified Silla period. The pagoda appears to date from around the 9th century, the period when decorative embellishment of pagodas became fully established. Overall it lacks a certain grandeur, but it is richly and beautifully carved with many figures.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Uiseong, Gyeongbuk

Designation

Treasure · 보물