Seated Gamsansa Temple Stone Vairocana Buddha

Gamsansa Temple was founded in 719, the eighteenth year of King Seongdeok of Silla, when Kim Ji-seong, who held the rank of jungachan, donated his estate to pray for the repose of his parents' souls and for the well-being of his clan and the king. The head and front of the stone Vairocana Buddha now enshrined in the Daejeokgwangjeon Hall are badly damaged, and its halo and pedestal have been lost. The legs are folded in the full lotus posture, the hands form the wisdom-fist mudra characteristic of Vairocana, and the figure has an imposing presence, with broad, solidly carved knees and squared shoulders. The sash knot at the left of the back and the clear drapery folds at the centre of the front of this stone Buddha, together with the Three-tiered Pedestal Buddha at the Yongjangsa Temple site and the seated stone Buddha of Samneunggye Valley, both on Namsan Mountain in Gyeongju, provide important material for the study of drapery on Unified Silla stone Buddha images. Although the face is damaged, making certainty difficult, the robust build evident in the body suggests that this statue was made at an early stage among Korea's Vairocana Buddha images.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Gyeongju, Gyeongbuk

Designation

Provincial Tangible Heritage · 시도유형문화유산