Stone Lantern of Tongdosa Temple, Yangsan

This stone lantern stands before Gwaneumjeon Hall at Tongdosa Temple, one of Korea's Three Jewel Temples, which together represent the Three Treasures of Buddhism (the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha). Around the central light chamber, or hwasaseok, an octagonal base is built up in three tiers, and above it sit a roof stone and a finial. The sides of the lower base stone are carved in shallow relief with ansang, arch-shaped niche motifs, and its upper surface bears a design of downward-facing lotus petals. The central shaft is bound at its middle by three raised bands. The upper base stone is decorated with an upward-facing lotus pattern. The square light chamber has a large square opening cut into each of its faces to let the lamplight spread outward. The roof stone bears a flower ornament at each corner, and at the very top a noban, a finial base, and a bou-ju, a bud-shaped jewel ornament, form the crowning decoration. Although the lantern follows the stone-lantern style of Unified Silla, the lack of fine detail in its flower ornaments suggests that it was in fact carved during the Goryeo period.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Yangsan, Gyeongnam

Designation

Provincial Tangible Heritage · 시도유형문화유산