Seated Manjangsa Temple Stone Buddha

Manjangsa Temple stands halfway up Mount Hwajangsan in Sanje 1-ri, Bian-myeon, Uiseong-gun, Gyeongsangbuk-do. In January 1999, when the current abbot, the monk Daegwan, undertook construction work at the temple, a Buddha statue was found buried behind the hermitage; when it was dug up, a seated stone Buddha together with its pedestal and mandorla (halo-shaped backdrop) were discovered. Until about thirty years ago the temple was called Hwajangsa, but when the monk Daegwan rebuilt it he renamed it Manjangsa. Members of a stone lantern and a three-storey stone pagoda survive today, along with various stones used in the temple buildings, which have been gathered together. The seated Buddha has an octagonal lotus pedestal and a boat-shaped mandorla enclosing the whole body. The head is covered with snail-shell curls, the robe is worn over both shoulders, and a knot is depicted at the chest; the legs are crossed in the full lotus position and the hands form the earth-touching gesture (hangma chokjiin, the gesture calling the earth to witness the Buddha's enlightenment). The nose, the lower part of the right ear, portions of the upper and lower left ear, the left shoulder, the whole of the right hand, half of the left hand, part of the right knee and the feet have been reinforced and repaired. The total height is 222 cm (excluding the base stone), the shoulder width is 59 cm and the knee width is 86 cm. This seated Buddha, with its octagonal lotus pedestal and mandorla, is a work of the Unified Silla period that retains a strict, disciplined style, and together with the stone seated Buddha enshrined at Gounsa Temple in Uiseong it provides important material for clarifying the sculptural style of Buddhist art in this region.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Uiseong, Gyeongbuk

Designation

Provincial Tangible Heritage · 시도유형문화유산