Suncheon Songgwangsa Temple Master Bojo Nectar Tap

This is the Gamnotap (Nectar Stupa) of National Preceptor Bojo Jinul (1158-1210), standing on the hill behind what is now Gwaneumjeon Hall, to the right of Seolbeopjeon Hall at Songgwangsa Temple. National Preceptor Bojo was the first of the sixteen state preceptors of Songgwangsa Temple during the Goryeo period, and the founder of the Concentration and Wisdom Community (Jeonghye Gyeolsa). He was a pioneer who led a new movement of spiritual reform within the Buddhist community of the late Goryeo period, a religious leader who sought to guide the corrupt realities of his age towards justice. The stupa consists of a two-tiered square base at the bottom, above which another base with angled corners at its four edges has been fitted in, a highly unusual form. The stone of the lowest two-tiered square base differs in quality from the stones above it, suggesting that it was newly added when the stupa was dismantled and restored in 1926. Above this, a stone carved with a faint lotus-petal design supports the body stone, on top of which sits an octagonal roof stone and a finial. When National Preceptor Bojo entered nirvana in 1210, the sixth year of King Huijong of Goryeo, he was granted the posthumous title 'Buril Bojo' and the stupa name 'Gamnotap' by the king, but the stupa itself was erected three years later, in 1213, the second year of King Gangjong. It has been moved several times within the precincts of Songgwangsa Temple, but now stands at its original location. Apart from the lowest base stone, it retains almost its original form, and features such as the sharply upturned corners of the roof stone, the raised eaves at its corners, and the round, ball-like body stone are notable for showing the stylistic characteristics of the late Goryeo period. The Gamnotap of National Preceptor Bojo at Songgwangsa Temple is valuable both for Jinul's historical standing and for its scholarly significance as a Goryeo-period reliquary stupa.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Suncheon, Jeonnam & Gwangju

Designation

Provincial Tangible Heritage · 시도유형문화유산