Seokguram Grotto

Seokguram is not a cave. It is an artificial chamber, assembled in the eighth century from cut granite blocks on the slope of Tohamsan and then buried under earth - a rotunda roofed by a corbelled dome of wedge-shaped stones locked by projecting pins, with a rectangular antechamber in front. Inside, a seated Buddha some three and a half metres high faces the East Sea, surrounded by relief carvings of bodhisattvas, disciples and guardians on the wall panels. It is generally held to be the high point of Silla sculpture and was inscribed by UNESCO in 1995 with Bulguksa below. Conservation has been difficult: repeated interventions from the colonial period onward, including concrete shells and mechanical climate control, disturbed the original ventilation, and since the 1970s the chamber has been sealed behind glass with air handling to hold humidity. So you see the Buddha from the antechamber, through glass, without photography.

Highlights

• The seated Buddha - three and a half metres, viewed through glass.
• The relief panels - guardians and bodhisattvas on the walls.
• The stone dome - the corbelled roof over the rotunda.
• The mountain approach - the walk or shuttle up Tohamsan.

When to go

April to June and September to November. Early morning is quieter; the site is small and coach groups fill it. Sunrise viewing from the terrace outside is a tradition.

Practical notes

You cannot enter the rotunda or photograph the Buddha - the view is from behind glass, at a distance, and many visitors find it underwhelming against the reputation. Ticketed separately from Bulguksa, with a shuttle fare on top.

Nearby

Bulguksa is below on the same mountain; central Gyeongju is 16 km west.

Key facts