A Longer, Closer Look at Seokguram, Part 1

1938 picture of Seokguram - my favourite pic of the grotto

After reading So Jae-gu’s essay, “Stone: The Mirror of Our Soul”, I’d like to revisit Seokguram Grotto and pay closer attention to this remarkable structure. During my first visit to the place, I was more taken by the freshly-fallen snow as it was my first experience of winter. Moreover, I hadn’t done my homework as a tourist.

The shuttle bus stops here and your short walk to Seokguram begins here

Instead of reading up on the place beforehand, I had mistakenly thought Seokguram was a shrine built into a natural cave like many of the Buddhist shrines and statues carved out of the softer rocks in India but I now realise the cave itself is a man-made grotto made up of hundreds of granite stones. What’s even more impressive is that they were joined, not by mortar but by stone rivets. That’s almost like a wooden house built without using nails.

From this distance, Seokguram looks like a tumuli lurking behind a shrine

Taking the shuttle bus from Bulguksa may be a convenient way to get to Seokguram but I hope I can do it the hard and long way the next time. By walking the full four kilometres up the steep and winding path up Tohamsan, I’d be able to appreciate better those labourers who had to haul blocks of granite up 750 meters above sea level to erect a hermitage for the Buddhist devotees of the past. Moreover, Tohamsan was regarded as a holy mount so to rush up to Seokguram in fifteen minutes or so by bus seems a little unsporting or even sacriligious.

Follow in the footsteps of ancient pilgrims and skip the shuttle bus up Tohamsan

Some experts believe the tiny hermitage was specially built as a private chapel for the Shilla royalty while ordinary pilgrims prayed in Bulguksa. Some think Kim Dae-Seong who oversaw the building of Bulguksa, wanted to dedicate the larger temple to his parents of his reincarnated life while Seokguram was intended as a memorial to the parents of his previous life. A third theory suggests it was meant as a supernatural or spiritual bastion to ward off possible invasions from Japan by positioning Buddha to face the east. Apparently it’s possible to glimpse the East Sea ( Sea of Japan) from inside the grotto.

Chapel, memorial or national defence?

The year in which construction began is also debatable – either 742 or 751 A.D. but it was completed in 774. Seokguram was initially named Seokbulsa ( Stone Buddha Temple) and it’s not clear when it was given its present name. The royal chapel fell into hard times and was abandoned and forgotten by all save local devotees during the Joseon Dynasty (1392- 1910) as the Joseon kings favoured Confucian ethics. It was only in 1909 during the Japanese occupation of Korea that Seokguram was rediscovered when a Japanese postman took refuge from the rain in what seemed like a cave. Unfortunately for him, Koreans don’t care much to keep a record of his name so the humble Jap who stumbled upon one of the most important symbols of Korea remains nameless.

Cut-away model of the man-made grotto

Even more unfortunate for Seokguram was the timing of its rediscovery. The Japanese colonial government actually decided to take it apart to repair it between 1913 and 1915. In doing so, the original arrangement of stones which allowed the grotto to “breathe” was disturbed. The use of cement and iron to cover the whole structure led to leaks and erosion as the natural ventilation of the cave was compromised.

Doesn't that crack in the capstone look like the ...?

Worse still, hot steam was used to clean the moss off the granite surface. One writer aptly described the whole fiasco during the Japanese occupation as a case of “torture in the name of preservation”. The Japanese also did another great disservice to Seokguram by promoting it as a cave temple that was part of the Buddhist architectural heritage from India instead of the man-made grotto which it is.

Admire the immaculate paving on the floor

Only when proper studies of the structure of the grotto were made in the 1960s, the problems of high humidity and botched waterproofing could be resolved. Still, thorny issues remain unresolved – a wooden façade was added to the antechamber upset many for two reasons.

A necessary evil - to protect Buddha from tourists

The superstructure blocked off views of the sunrise, thus denying to future generations brilliant photo-opportunities and inspiration of enlightenment. Secondly, the passage of air into the grotto was cut off which again disrupted its natural ventilation. Another barrier- this time, a glass one, was put up between the Buddha and visitors. The glass wall was intended to protect Buddha from graffiti and vandals as well as to control the temperature within.

Study the models in the Shilla Science History Museum

to appreciate fully the achievement of the Shilla artisans

One other thing I’d like to do is to visit the Shilla Science History Museum in the Folk Craft Village of Gyeongju. Its cutaway models of Seokguram illustrate the ingenuity of its engineers and artisans and the beauty of its design. For more pics, click here but a word of warning: the English notes on this page are as tortuous as the early attempts to conserve Seokguram!

sources:
http://www.sacred-destinations.com/south-korea/images/seokguram/resized/buddha-wc-gfdl.jpg

http://www.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/asis/wallpaper/0707/paper0707_03_1024.jpg
http://www.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/AK/AK_EN_1_6_4_5.jsp
http://english.cha.go.kr/
http://211.57.113.1/jsp/vr/cybertour_main.jsp?codeid=01010602&eflag=E
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Korea-Gyeongju-Seokguram-12.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Korea-Gyeongju-Silla_Art_and_Science_Museum-Seokguram_model-03.jpg
http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/cms/content_travelGoods/41/676641_images_4.jpg
http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/cms/resource/54/156354_image2_1.jpg
http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/01/40/37/89/gate-of-seokguram-grotto.jpg
http://www.sacred-destinations.com/south-korea/images/bulguksa/resized/path-from-seokguram-cc-martinroell.jpg
http://koreanhistory.info/Shilla.htm
http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_1_1_1.jsp?cid=264260
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seokguram
http://english.triptokorea.com/english/UserFiles/Image/daily%20tour/Gyeongju/Seokgurm%20Grotto2.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Korea-Gyeongju-Silla_Art_and_Science_Museum-Seokguram_model-02.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3109/2831368349_559a774cc7.jpg
http://stone.buddhism.org/eng/seokguram/
http://www.buddhism.org/board/read.cgi?board=WhatsNew&y_number=26