Stupa of Gugosa Temple, Haman

Originally located near the site of present-day Gugosa Temple, in an area popularly called Jeolgol or Tapgol, the stupa was moved to the Chirwon-myeon office and then relocated again in 1998 to a hillside vegetable garden at the temple's entrance. It is heavily worn overall; corner pilasters are carved in relief at each corner of the octagonal pedestal, but weathering has left the traces unclear. Moss has grown on the roof stone, the body and the pedestal, and traces resembling cup-marks of various sizes remain here and there on the lower part of the body. The stupa consists of a pedestal stone, a body stone and a square roof stone. The pedestal, carved from a single stone, is octagonal at the top, while the upper surface of its lower section is rounded, giving the appearance of a double pedestal. A corner pilaster is carved on each face of the octagon, and the top of the pedestal is cut at an inward slope to seat the body stone directly, without a separate base beneath it — an omission that can be read as a sign of later date, reflecting a tendency toward simplification over time. The body stone is oval, with its widest point below the centre, its top and bottom cut flat to fit the roof stone and pedestal. The roof stone is square, with thick, heavy eave corners that curve upward, and four thick hip-ridges run down the sloping roof to the corners. The stupa is judged to continue the tradition of early Joseon stupa forms, which have a middle stone and an upper stone set on an octagonal pedestal: the carving of pilasters on each face of the octagonal pedestal, and the technique of cutting the top and bottom of the oval body stone to fit pedestal and roof, are both stone-working methods seen in early Joseon stupas. However, the excessively heavy roof slope, the absence of carved architectural elements such as sub-rafters beneath the roof stone, and the lowering of the body stone's widest point all point to a weakening of the style, and so to a later date. Production is presumed to date to the late Joseon period (the latter half of the seventeenth century), coinciding with the period when square roof stones carved with hip-ridges were fashionable and stupas of around 130–150 cm were being built. The Stupa of Gugosa Temple, Haman, differs in type from the bell-shaped stupas mainly seen in the late Joseon period, and is material through which the stylistic development of stupas can be traced.

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Where it is

Region

Haman, Gyeongnam

Designation

Cultural Heritage Material · 문화유산자료