Choamsaseo Stupa

A budo, or stupa, symbolises a monk's grave, a place enshrining the remains or sari (relics) of the deceased; the identity of the monk honoured by this stupa at Choamsa Temple is not yet known. Choamsa is a small temple at the foot of Sobaeksan Mountain, founded by Master Uisang; it is also said to be the site where the master built a thatched hut and stayed while searching for the location that would become Buseoksa Temple. The stupa consists of a body raised on a platform made of three stone tiers - lower, middle and upper - every part except the base stone forming an octagon. The lower tier, carved from a single stone together with the base, bears a lotus design. The middle tier has a pillar shape carved at each of its eight corners, with an ansang, a blind-niche motif, carved on every face. The upper tier is encircled with a lotus design that mirrors the lower one. The body of the stupa is in the form of an eight-sided pillar, and the roof stone has a shallow, broad groove on its underside, its eight corners curving upward with a light, buoyant effect. At the top sits a finial in the shape of a flower bud. The upper tier of the platform is now set upside down, and the middle tier of the platform and the body of the stupa have also been swapped. It appears to be a stupa of the Goryeo period, but judging from the carving technique of each part, it seems to have been built later than the East Stupa within the same temple grounds (a Gyeongsangbuk-do Tangible Cultural Heritage).

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Yeongju, Gyeongbuk

Designation

Provincial Tangible Heritage · 시도유형문화유산