Stone Artefacts of Simwonsa Temple, Seongju

These are various Buddhist relics that remained at the temple site uncovered during reconstruction work at Simwonsa Temple: a stone Buddha pedestal, sinbangseok (stone blocks that anchored the pivots of a gate's door frames), a stone pagoda base cover stone, and others. The stone artefacts are mostly granite. The seated stone Vairocana Buddha measures 47 cm in height, 40.5 cm across the shoulders and 43.5 cm at its widest; the Buddha's halo measures 136.5 by 110 cm; the stone pedestal measures 73.2 by 17.4 cm; the pagoda base cover stone measures 101.8 by 102.2 cm; and the sinbangseok measure 74 cm in diameter and 16.8 cm in height. Simwonsa Temple is presumed to have been founded around the eighth century; since Doeun Yi Sung-in referred to it as an 'old temple' in one of his poems, it can be inferred that it had long flourished. Records state that the monk Jiwon restored the temple during the reign of King Jungjong of Joseon, and that it was rebuilt after being destroyed in the Japanese invasions of Korea, but the Beomugo, a survey of Buddhist temples compiled in 1799 (the 23rd year of King Jeongjo), records it as an abandoned temple. The stone artefacts, designated as Gyeongsangbuk-do Cultural Heritage Material, are presumed to have been made sometime between the Unified Silla period and the early Goryeo period. The Buddha's halo in particular is a boat-shaped halo combining a head halo and a body halo, showing overall excellent carving technique, and the arrangement of two incense burners on it is an extremely rare form.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Seongju, Gyeongbuk

Designation

Cultural Heritage Material · 문화유산자료