Gyeongju Family Temple

The voluminous stone Buddha statues from the Unified Silla period are beautiful!

Gyeongju is a city where world-famous cultural heritage sites can be seen all over the city. On the Gyeongbu Expressway, which connects Busan and Seoul, just past the Gyeongju toll gate, you will find Namsan, a mountain just under 500 meters high that has been worshiped since the Silla period.

The mountain is home to many stone Buddha statues, stone pagodas, and ancient tombs that give a sense of the breath of the Silla era, and it is also famous as a mountain climbing spot in search of Silla era Buddhist relics.

At the foot of the eastern mountain of Mt. Namsan, there is the 4.36m Gyeongju Namsan Mireukgok Stone Seated Buddha (Treasure No. 136), which is said to have been created at roughly the same time as the stone Buddhas of Seokguram Grotto, a World Heritage Site. This stone Seated Buddha is said to be the largest and most complete stone Buddha statue remaining in Mt. Namsan today.

The stone seated Buddha statue is 4.36 meters tall overall and 2.44 meters tall, and the Yakushi Nyorai is carved into the halo on the back.

The temple, located in a location with a good view of Nansan Mountain, where the 27th queen of Silla, Queen Seondeok, the first queen of Silla, is buried, is also the subject of a TV drama and has many fans in Japan. Although the exact date of its founding is unknown, it is believed to have been built during the Unified Silla period.

A full view of the temple and the seated statue of Bodaiji Cliff Buddha.

Also famous are the "Stone Seated Buddha Statue (Miroku Valley, Namsan, Gyeongju) (Treasure No. 136)" and the "Bodaisa Rock-Carved Seated Buddha Statue (Gyeongsangbuk-do Tangible Cultural Property No. 193)" located near the entrance to the temple.

The temple was abandoned for a long time, but in 1980, the main hall, the Zen temple, and the dormitory for the monks were built and restored to its current state. Since then, it has been established as a nunnery where female monks train.