Standing Muan Bhaisajyaguru Temple Stone Buddha

Yaksasa Temple, in Muan-eup, Muan-gun, Jeollanam-do, is said to have been founded in the first year of King Taejo of Goryeo (918) under the name Namaksa, though there is no documentary evidence for this. However, judging from the scale of the stone Buddha now standing on the site, a temple of considerable size appears to have stood here since the Goryeo period. The present temple building was erected in 1972. The figure holds a large medicine jar in its left hand, suggesting that it was intended to represent Bhaisajyaguru, the Buddha of Medicine. However, because the bare head lacks the topknot-shaped hair bun usually seen on such images, it has also been taken for Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva; traces suggest that the hair bun was deliberately cut away. The facial expression is stiff, the overall impression is crude, and clear signs of decline can be seen in parts of the carving technique. The drapery flows from the shoulders down past the waist, and the folds form a wave pattern at the sides, treated in a stepped manner. Before the knees, the folds spread out in a wave pattern to either side, similar to those on the standing stone Buddha at Bunhyang-ri, Damyang. On the back of the statue are three holes that once held a halo, now blocked with cement; the present halo is a newly carved replacement. Given the relatively narrow face, the blocky overall form, and the hunched shoulders and short neck, the statue is presumed to have been made in the late Goryeo period.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Muan, Jeonnam & Gwangju

Designation

Provincial Tangible Heritage · 시도유형문화유산