6. Three-story Stone Pagoda of Daeheungsa Temple

[Man]
A pagoda stands between Sansingak Pavilion and Cheongundang Hall in Daeheungsa Temple. According to sources, this pagoda is one that houses the sarira of the Sakyamuni Buddha that Buddhist monk Jajang Beobsa brought from China during the Silla Dynasty.

[Woman]
Sarira refers to a bead-shaped skeleton that is believed to result from true practice. This sarira is classified into various types depending on its shape, including genuine-body sarira and mound sarira. The body itself is the genuine-body sarira, while the bones left after cremation are the mound sarira. In this case, the mound sarira may be either fine bone or white powder, but in the northern sects of Buddhism, the sarira faith was further mystified and recognized as bead-shaped sarira. In other words, from golden powder to pearl-like beads, remains after cremation were enshrined in sarira. Usually, Buddha sarira is considered the best, but other sarira of the Buddhist monks who followed him were also believed and placed in the pagoda.

[Man]
The remains of the Buddha, high priests, and monks were divided into Jinsinshinsari, Beopsari, and Seungsari, respectively and something called Budo that enshrines Seungsari was built in a shape that differs from other Buddhist pagodas. Historically, after Sakyamuni's nirvana, the bodies of his disciples were cremated according to the funeral tradition of India, and as many as 84 beads of sarira were found, which were distributed and enshrined in 8 different countries.

[Woman]
In Korea, the belief in sarira was very prevalent, and the belief in the holy sarira of Buddha was stronger than that in the statue of Buddha.

[Man]
The Three-story Stone Pagoda of Daeheungsa Temple is a very uniform and elegant stone pagoda that inherits the typical style of Silla. The three-story pagoda is built on two inner foundations, and the top features a bowl-shaped ornament placed upside down on a large head accessory support called bokbal, a lotus flower-shaped decoration called yanghwa, and a wheel-shaped decoration called boryun.

[Woman]
The Three-story Stone Pagoda of Daeheungsa Temple is presumed to have been built during the late Unified Silla Period, given the fact that the number of columns in the middle of the inner foundation has been reduced to one and the base of the roof stone has four layers. The Three-story Stone Pagoda of Daeheungsa Temple, along with the Three-story Stone Pagoda of Bungmireugam Hermitage in Daeheungsa Temple, which was built near the summit of Daedunsan Mountain, carries an important value indicating that the style of stone pagodas dating back to the Unified Silla Period had spread to the southwestern region. In January 1967 during the disassembly and repair of the Three-story Stone Pagoda of Daeheungsa Temple, a copper seated Buddha was found on a natural stone slab inside the upper foundation, with a height of 12 cm and width of 7.5 cm.