Ballyongsa Temple Multi-story Stone Pagoda

This pagoda is a multi-story stone pagoda of a type popular in the Goryeo period. One story of the pagoda body survives on a three-tiered granite foundation, above which multiple roof stones of slate remain stacked in layers; its height is 2.4m. It originally stood within the grounds of Ballyongsa Temple but is now kept at the Daegaya Museum in Goryeong-eup. Most Korean stone pagodas are built mainly of granite, but small slate pagodas appeared from the Goryeo period onward. Among slate pagodas a variety of multi-story forms occur, including hexagonal and octagonal types. The pagoda of Ballyongsa Temple is likewise a small pagoda made by polishing slate. Its form consists of a two-tiered square granite foundation, above which sits a two-story square slate lotus pedestal (yeonhwadae); on top of this only the roof stones remain, the pagoda body itself having been lost. Around the two-tiered slate foundation are carved relief lotus patterns of both single and double petals. Beneath the eaves of the roof stones, supports are carved in relief, and the gentle slope of the upper roof surface forms an elegant rainwater drip line, giving the pagoda a graceful appearance. At Ballyongsa Temple, where this pagoda once stood, there remain, besides the multi-story stone pagoda, several stupas from the Joseon period and a single tortoise-shaped stele base (gwibu) whose stele body is now missing. Ballyongsa Temple is located at the foot of Misungsan Mountain in Yong-ri, Ssanglim-myeon. The Sinjeung dongguk yeoji seungnam (Newly Augmented Survey of the Geography of Korea) records an official notice issued to this temple by Emperor Shizu of the Yuan dynasty, stating that Yuan soldiers who had come to Gyeongsang-do to take part in the expedition against Japan should not pillage the temple. The multi-story stone pagoda at Wondangam Hermitage of Haeinsa Temple and the hexagonal multi-story stone pagoda of Geumsansa Temple belong to this same type.

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Where it is

Region

Goryeong, Gyeongbuk

Designation

Provincial Tangible Heritage · 시도유형문화유산