Yeoju Silleuksa Temple Wonguhyeong Stone Stupa

Yeoju Silleuksa Temple stands on the banks of the Namhan River. It was greatly rebuilt after Seon master Naong passed away in the late Goryeo period. In the early Joseon period it was designated the wonchal, a temple built to pray for the repose of King Sejong's Yeongneung Royal Tomb, and repairs and new construction were carried out; Buddhist works have continued since then, and the temple maintains its tradition to this day. The Wonguhyeong (spherical) Stone Stupa stands beneath a low ridge to the west of Silleuksa Temple. It originally stood beyond a hill north of Josadang Shrine but is said to have been moved to its present site in November 1966. This stone stupa has a square base stone that serves as both ground stone and lower base stone, on which the middle stone is set. The middle stone has pillars carved with a beaded, connected-pearl pattern at its corners, and on its panel faces a horizontal band of the same beaded pattern divides the surface into upper and lower registers, within which insang, cusped niche-shaped motifs, are carved. The upper base stone is decorated with an eight-petalled lotus design. The body stone is a plain spherical member bearing no inscription or pattern. The roof stone, the stone that covers the top of a pagoda or stone lantern like a roof, has a support carved on its underside, while its upper surface is fashioned with tiled ridges and a ridge line as in wooden architecture, with a dragon's head carved at the end. The finial above consists simply of an overturned-bowl-shaped stone and a jewel-shaped stone. The overall structure and style of the Wonguhyeong Stone Stupa at Silleuksa Temple show affinities with other stupas from various regions that flourished in the late Joseon period. It is distinctive, however, in that the surface of the middle stone is carved with a beaded pattern framing insang motifs, that the roof stone, like a wooden building, is fitted with tiled ridges and a ridge line, and that a dragon's head bearing a protective meaning is carved at its end.

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Where it is

Region

Yeoju, Gyeonggi

Designation

Cultural Heritage Material · 문화유산자료