Seokguram & Bulguksa: Korea’s Buddhist Legacy

The Buddha statue in this small temple in an artificial grotto is considered the most elegant in All of Korea! The grotto is located on the slope of Mount Tkhohamsan, where the winding serpentine of the mountain road leads.

The walk to the temple through the mountain forest from the parking lot takes about 15-20 minutes; depending on the weather, either a mysterious foggy landscape awaits us (fogs are not uncommon on this mountain), or breathtaking bird's-eye views of the thousand-year-old Gyeongju.

In the grotto, which is formally the hermitage of the Bulguksa temple, located below the slope, the dominant position is occupied by the above-mentioned statue of Buddha, sitting in a lotus position on a pedestal in the shape of a lotus. Around it at different heights are bas-reliefs and statues of bodhisattvas, arhats, Indra and Brahma, the Four Heavenly Kings.

If the group agrees, we can go down the mountainside to the temple of Bulguksa.

The main Buddhist temple of United Silla, it is now a place of pilgrimage for many guests of Korea.

The temple was built in 774 under the leadership of the premier of the state of Silla, Kim Taesong. Legend has it that Bulguksa was dedicated to the parents of the current, so to speak, Kim Taesong. While Seokguram, the temple-hermitage under Bulguksa, was intended for Kim Taesung's parents from his previous incarnations.

In 1995, Bulguksa and Seokguram were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.