[Temple Adventures] Rediscovered treasures on Gyeongju's mystical Mount Nam

The shelter protecting the Maae-bul in Yeolam-gok Valley in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province / Courtesy of Dale Quarrington

By Dale Quarrington

The mystical Mount Nam in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, is home to the spiritual endeavors of the Silla people. Now these aspirations are among some of Korea's most revered treasures. These include the "Rock-Carved Buddhas in Tap-gok Valley," the "Rock-Carved Buddhas at Chilbulam Hermitage" and the "Stone Seated Buddha in Yongjangsa-gok Valley" to name but a few. In total, there are some 122 temples and temple sites, 53 stone statues, 64 pagodas, 16 stone lanterns, 36 monuments, royal tombs and even a fortress on Mount Nam. Yet despite all that is known about Mount Nam through numerous archaeological efforts both in mapping and preserving these sites, the mountain still has new secrets.

In May 2007, a seated Buddha statue in Yeolam-gok Valley in the southern part of Mount Nam was discovered while the Gyeongju National Research Institute of the Cultural Heritage Administration, which is in charge of protecting and promoting Korean cultural heritage in Gyeongju, was repairing the neighboring "Stone Seated Buddha in Yeolam-gok Valley." Imagine the surprise of the person who discovered this massive 70-ton, 6.2-meter-tall high-relief image of the Buddha. What's even more surprising about this high-relief image is that it was discovered in a fallen position perfectly preserved coming to rest some 10 centimeters from having its entire face destroyed by the rocky ground below.

An up-close of the overturned Maae-bul in Yeolam-gok Valley in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province / Courtesy of Dale Quarrington

With this discovery, two questions come to mind: how old is the statue; and how did it fall?

Typically, the artistic style of a Buddha statue goes a long way in determining just how old it might be. Things that are considered are the carving style, the facial features and the clothing depicted. All three together help formulate a date for the statue's construction. And with all this in mind, the "Maae-bul in Yeolam-gok Valley" was determined to have been first constructed around the late eighth century.

As for the second question, it was surmised that the statue was toppled by an earthquake. The Korean Peninsula is considered a stable location in comparison to neighboring countries like Taiwan and Japan. However, according to historical records, this certainly doesn't preclude the Korean Peninsula from having its fair share of earthquakes. In fact, according to several historical texts like the Samguk Sagi ("History of the Three Kingdoms"), there have been several destructive earthquakes in the region like those in 768, 779 and 1036. The last two earthquakes were especially destructive causing severe damage to historical sites like the famed Hwangnyong Temple pagoda and Bulguk Temple, both of which are also located in Gyeongju. In fact, the 779 earthquake is well-documented in the Samguk Sagi. In this book, the destruction caused by this earthquake is described as, "About 100 people are killed and a number of buildings are destroyed by the earthquake." It's believed that this earthquake had a magnitude of 6.7 on the Richter scale.

Based upon the initial studies of the Yeolam-gok-ji Temple Site, it was determined that the "Maae-bul in Yeolam-gok Valley" fell between 1130 and 1370. What's peculiar about this timeframe is that no major earthquake is recorded to have taken place at this time. However, further studies have revealed that the earthquake that detached the "Maae-bul in Yeolam-gok Valley" from its rock face had a 6.4 magnitude and hit the region in 1430. This then resulted in the statue falling and rotating 20 degrees clockwise and sliding several meters from its original position. Eventually, it would come to rest on a 45-degree slope some 800 meters up the Yeolam-gok Valley, miraculously still intact. And because of the way it fell, it had been perfectly preserved some 10 centimeters from the rocky ground.

To further emphasize this destructive point, the previously mentioned "Stone Seated Buddha in Yeolam-gok Valley" was also completely destroyed by an earthquake. This statue is located some 20 meters to the north of the "Maae-bul in Yeolam-gok Valley." The stone seated statue of the Buddha is about three meters in height, and it dates back to around the eighth or ninth century, which is around the same time that the "Maae-bul in Yeolam-gok Valley" is thought to have been first constructed. In 2005, some two years before the discovery of the "Maae-bul in Yeolam-gok Valley," the head of the statue was located in the lower part of the valley. And after the head was rediscovered, the rest of the statue, nimbus and pedestal stone that had fragmented upon their falls, were placed upon a newly built pedestal. While the "Stone Seated Buddha in Yeolam-gok Valley" isn't as perfectly preserved as the "Maae-bul in Yeolam-gok Valley," both are now together, once more, on the Yeolamgok-ji Temple Site.

The Stone Seated Buddha in Yeolam-gok Valley in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province / Courtesy of Dale Quarrington

What makes this situation and this newly discovered high-relief even more interesting is the proposal to have it re-erected. The Jogye Order, which is the largest Buddhist order in Korea, announced in January that it had the intention of resurrecting the newly discovered treasure. The Gyeongju National Research Institute will be in charge of this project, which is expected to be completed sometime in 2025. But before this can be done, continued examination of the site, as well as numerous computer simulations, need to be completed in order to locate the perfect new location for the resurrected statue so as to avoid its former fate. The one major hitch is that a statue of such size and enormity has never been moved before, and the statue already displays some signs of cracking from its original fall.

So should the statue be re-erected or allowed to remain where it once came to rest some 600 years ago? As for me, I'm a bit mixed about what should happen. While it would be amazing to have this statue standing, once more, it might come at the expense of irreparably damaging what even a major earthquake didn't destroy.

But whatever may happen, Mount Nam in Gyeongju continues to inspire and amaze with such miraculous new discoveries like the "Maae-bul in Yeolam-gok Valley."

Dale Quarrington has visited over 500 temples throughout the Korean Peninsula and published three books on Korean Buddhism. He runs the website, Dale's Korean Temple Adventures.