Jeseoksa Temple Site, Iksan

This is the site of a temple that enshrined Jeseokcheon (Indra), the guardian deity of Buddhism, as its main image, located near a palace that King Mu of Baekje built when he planned to move the capital to Wanggungpyeong. According to records, when the temple burned down completely after being struck by lightning in 639, the fortieth year of King Mu's reign, only the Diamond Sutra engraved on bronze plates and the Buddhist relics that had been placed beneath the pagoda survived; these were preserved and enshrined again once the temple was rebuilt. The temple's name was identified when roof-tile fragments inscribed with the characters for 'Jeseoksa' were found in the area believed to be the site of the pagoda. Notably, relics found in 1965 in the stone pagoda within the Wanggungpyeong fortress — said to be the site of King Mu of Baekje's palace — closely resemble the relics found at this site. As one of the few surviving Baekje temple sites, it provides important material for the study of Baekje history: documentary records reveal both when the temple was built and when it fell into ruin, it is linked to the Wanggungpyeong remains from King Mu's reign, and it yielded the first flat, undecorated eave-tile ever found among Baekje remains.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Iksan, Jeonbuk

Designation

Historic Site · 사적