Stele for the Construction of Amitabha Buddha at Mujangsa Temple Site, Gyeongju

Basic information

Designation

Treasure No.125

Category

Sculpture

Era

통일신라시대

Designated year

1963

Location

경주시, 경상북도— 경북 경주시 암곡동 산1-9번지

Coordinates

35.880939, 129.351131

This stele was erected by Queen Gyehwa, consort of King Soseong (r. 799-800) who was the 39th king of the Silla Dynasty (B.C.57-A.D.935), to pray for her dead husband for whom she also had an Amitabha Buddha made at the Mujangsa Temple site in Gyeongju. The stele contains an inscription on the construction process of Amitabha Buddha. Some fragments of the stele excavated in 1915 suggested that the Buddhist temple called Mujangsa was once located here. The temple is believed to have been set up by Hyoyang, father of Silla's 38th King Wonseong, in memory of his uncle. Most parts of the stele were destroyed; the body of the stele is preserved in another place, and the partly broken base and headless capstone are left in this temple site. The square pedestal where the body of the stele is inserted has the twelve figures of the Oriental zodiac carved on the four sides. The capstone is carved with a dragon carrying a cintamani with its forefeet in the clouds. On the left side is an investigation record made by Kim Jeong-hui, a famous epigraphist of the Joseon Dynasty. This stele provides a very important clue as to how the capstones of the steles had been changed, because one rarely finds a stele without a missing capstone, except the Stele for King Taejong Muyeol, Gyeongju (National Treasure No. 25) made in the early Unified Silla period.

Location