Sarira unveiled from Seokgatap pagoda

A casket from Seokgatap containing sariras, or remains of cremated Buddhist monks, is exposed for the first time since 1966 as workers are disassembling the eighth-century stone pagoda, designated as a national treasure. / Yonhap

By Kim Tong-hyung

The essential inner parts of Seokgatap were exposed for the first time in 47 years, Tuesday, as workers continue to disassemble the eighth-century stone pagoda for repair.

The three-story stupa at the Bulguk Temple in Gyeongju, South Gyeongsang Province, is a designated national treasure and along with the adjacent Dabotap is rated as one of the most sophisticated works of Buddhist art remaining in Korea.

Repair workers removed the second-floor of the pagoda and collected a casket containing its sarira, or relics remaining of Buddhist monks after their death and cremation, which are considered sacred in Buddhism.

The sarira will be kept at a separate location in the temple before the pagoda is fully restored, which is expected to be sometime around June next year, according to culture officials.

The National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage, a sub-unit of the Cultural Heritage Administration, made the difficult decision to dismantle the three-story pagoda for repair in 2010 as it has been showing signs of aging badly, including fissures developing in the foundation stone. The repair work began in September last year and workers had completed removing the upper part of the pagoda by December.

Dabotap is currently under repair as well.

''We will disassemble the pagoda completely down to the lower part and will conduct research on the condition of the ground it had been standing on. There will be an archeological excavation if we concluded that we need one. We expect to start putting the pagoda back together around March next year, a process that will take about three months,'' said Bae Byeong-seon, an architectural expert at the research institute.

This was the first time since 1966 that the critical compartment inside the pagoda was opened. Cultural officials at that time disassembled the pagoda for repair after it was damaged by thieves attempting to steal the sarira casket.

The repair process led to the discovery of several significant historical assets, including the ''Mugujeonggwang Great Dharani Sutra,'' currently considered as the world's oldest wood-block print, which was found at a separate compartment inside the structure.

The eight-meter-high Seokgatap was built in 743 under the reign of King Gyeongdeok of the Shilla Kingdom (57 B.C. – 935 A.D.), about two centuries after the building of the Bulguk Temple, which is now on the UNESCO World Heritage list.

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