Stone Seated Amitabha Buddha Triad of Songnimsa Temple, Chilgok

This triad, enshrined in the Cheonbuljeon Hall of Songnimsa Temple, is an Amitabha triad comprising the Buddha Amitabha flanked by the bodhisattvas Avalokitesvara (Gwaneum) and Ksitigarbha (Jijang). The triad was made from a stone called bulseok (沸石, zeolite). Zeolite is a soft stone quarried in the Gyeongju region, and is thought to have been a material that even sculptor-monks who specialised in woodcarving could handle relatively easily. Perhaps because of this material, the faces and bodies of the figures give a somewhat stiff impression. A notable feature of this triad is the form of the mudra: all three figures place both hands, palms down, on their knees, a gesture frequently seen in zeolite Buddhist images of the late Joseon period. This triad in particular is among the pioneering examples of zeolite images to adopt this mudra, giving it significance in the history of sculpture. A votive text recovered from inside the Amitabha image records that the work was made in 1655 (the sixth year of King Hyojong) by the sculptor-monk Dou (道祐, also written 道雨) of the Muyeom school, in what is, so far as is currently known, his first work as suhwawon, the lead sculptor-monk of the workshop; the triad is accordingly valued as an important work for the study of 17th-century Buddhist sculpture and its schools.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Chilgok, Gyeongbuk

Designation

Treasure · 보물