Seokguram

Quick facts

Address

238 Seokgul-ro, Jinhyeon-dong, Gyeongju-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do

About this place

Seokguram is a Unified Silla stone-grotto temple on Tohamsan in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang. The Samguk Yusa records that the minister Kim Dae-seong founded Bulguksa for his parents in this life and Seokbulsa for his parents in a former life, beginning in 751. It is built of dressed granite, with a round main chamber under a domed ceiling holding the principal buddha, and is inscribed as UNESCO World Heritage.

Origin and history

The Encyclopedia of Korean Culture describes Seokguram as a Unified Silla stone-grotto temple on Tohamsan in Jinhyeon-dong, Gyeongju. Its original name was Seokbulsa.

The Samguk Yusa records that in the tenth year of King Gyeongdeok of Silla (751) the minister Kim Dae-seong founded Bulguksa for his parents in this life and Seokbulsa for his parents in a former life.

It is not a natural cave but an artificial grotto built up from dressed granite, a square antechamber joined by a passage to a round main chamber. The principal buddha sits at the centre of that chamber, with bodhisattvas and disciples carved on the walls. It is a National Treasure and, with Bulguksa, inscribed as UNESCO World Heritage.

What it is locally associated with

• OriginFamily & Home

  Two temples for the parents of two lives

  The Samguk Yusa records that Kim Dae-seong founded Bulguksa for his parents in this life and Seokbulsa for his parents in a former life.

  documented history

• Power spot

  A grotto that was built, not found

  Not a natural cave but dressed granite assembled into a square antechamber and a round main chamber joined by a passage.

  documented history

• Power spot

  Begun in 751

  Founded in the tenth year of King Gyeongdeok. A National Treasure and UNESCO World Heritage.

  documented history

What this grotto was built for is not transmitted lore but written record. The Samguk Yusa says Kim Dae-seong raised Bulguksa for his parents in this life and Seokbulsa for his parents in a former one. A vow made for parents was split across two temples.

Which means reading Seokguram alone is reading half of it. Bulguksa below the mountain and Seokguram above it are one pair, offered by one man to the parents of two lives.

Related guides

• How to visit a Korean templeHands together and hands folded, how the bows work, and what to do at the threshold of a hall. Starting with what is different from visiting a Japanese shrine.
• The small hall behind the main one — sansingak and samseonggakUphill from the main hall of a Korean temple stands a smaller one, and inside it an old man with a tiger. This is where the indigenous religion sits, inside the Buddhist institution.
• Templestay — a night at a templeA programme that puts you inside a temple’s own timetable for a day or two. What you do, which type to book, and what to be ready for.
• Prayer sites and the one wishThe three great Gwaneum sites, the five relic halls, and the crowds before the entrance exam. Where the saying about one wish comes from, and where the record stops.

Sources

1. 석굴암(石窟庵) — 한국민족문화대백과사전 — Academy of Korean Studies (accessed 2026-08-12)