The Jeonnam-Gwangju Special Integrated City announced Friday that it has applied to elevate the Uncheonsa Rock-Carved Seated Buddha — held by Uncheonsa Temple of the Korean Buddhist Taego Order in Ssangchon-dong, Seo-gu — to the status of a nationally designated cultural heritage treasure.
Designated a city-level tangible cultural heritage in 1974, the statue is carved into a natural rock face and stands 3.61 meters tall, with a body height of 2.45 meters.
The work displays characteristics of both the aesthetic forms of Unified Silla Buddhist sculpture and the large-scale Buddha style of the Goryeo period, pointing to an early Goryeo origin and making it highly valuable for research.
The city said the statue has survived long-term outdoor exposure without damage and features distinctive iconographic elements — including hands clasped around a round ritual object — making it fully worthy of national cultural heritage designation.
Whether the statue receives national designation will be determined following a review by the Cultural Heritage Administration and deliberation by the National Heritage Committee.
Hwang In-chae, head of the integrated city's culture bureau, said the city would pursue wide-ranging conservation and utilization policies "so that the region's precious cultural heritage can be reborn as a core humanistic and cultural asset that unites citizens under a shared identity."
sij@heraldcorp.com
