4. Alms Bowl Pagoda of Tongdosa Temple

[Woman]
The Alms Bowl Pagoda of Tongdosa Temple stands in front of Yonghwajeon Hall. It is believed to be a sculpture symbolizing the succession of Sakyamuni Buddha's clothing and food bowl to Maitreya. The pagoda is 2.6 meters tall. This is a rare stone object with a large lidded alms bowl placed on a footstone that is of almost the same structure as a stone lantern. Like the stone lantern, the footstone consists of three parts, which are lower, middle, and upper stones.

[Man]
The lower stone is a lotus-shape stone formed after a lotus flower turned upside down on the footstone covered with a flagstone, two metal rims are bound in the lower part, and its circumference was divided into 8 sections to carve 8 pillars. The upper part is decorated with a lotus blossom motif in a four-layered pattern, a pattern that has designed the lotus blossom shared in a certain form, and the upper part is carved with three layers of low supports to provide an aid pillar stone.

[Woman]
The cross-section of the pillar stone is an irregular octagonal pillar with cut corners, and its center is deeply engraved with shapes like bamboo joints, while its four sides of upper and lower parts are trimmed into a slender shape. The upper stone is formed after a lotus flower fully bloomed towards the sky, and its sides are carved with a lotus blossom motif with 8 petals, while its upper side has a three-layered low support.

[Man]
The stone alms bowl placed on the upper stone is 1-meter-high and 90 centimeters in diameter. Underneath, a pedestal with a beautiful curve is attached without any other decorations, and the curve running down from the lid to the pedestal allows us to sense the detached aesthetic value along with the ordinary touch. The Alms Bowl Pagoda is presumed to have been built during the Goryeo Dynasty due to the shape of lotus bloom and the style of the pedestal, but it is uncertain as to whether the pedestal and the sculptor formed after a bowl are the work of the same age as they differ from each other. It is also called Seokho or Uibal Pagoda at Tongdo Temple, which is presumed to have a religious meaning in its construction in front of Yonghwajeon Hall.

[Woman]
In the family of Buddhism, the kasaya and baru (bowl) of masters are passed to their disciples as symbols, and this stone alms bowl is believed to have originated from the Buddhist literature which provides that Kasyapa, the topmost disciple of Buddha, carried a baru and kasaya to present the baru of Sakyamuni Buddha to Maitreya who will appear in the future and entered into the state of absorption in complete cessation in Gyejoksan Mountain.

[Sakyamuni Buddha]
“Kasyapa.”

[Kasyapa]
“Yes, master.”

[Sakyamuni Buddha]
“I will soon pass into Nirvana.”

[Kasyapa]
“Master.”

[Sakyamuni Buddha]
In 5.67 billion years, Maitreya will come to this world."

[Kasyapa]
“Maitreya?”

[Sakyamuni Buddha]
“Yes.” "Kasyapa. Stay in the world until Maitreya appears, and deliver my baru and kasaya, the sanctions of my Dharma, to Maitreya.

[Kasyapa]
“Yes, master!” I shall honor your command. Master.”

[Sakyamuni Buddha]
“I entrust you... and leave...now...”

[Kasyapa]
“Master, rest in peace.”