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Forgotten Giants of Gyeongju [Photo Essay Contest - Grand Prize Winner]

Published: 28 Jul. 2025, 17:01 Updated: 28 Jul. 2025, 17:26

by Minseok Kim, Daegu International School

Each cultural heritage around the world has a reason for why it was built, and some historical events that have been connected to it. I recently visited Gyeongju and saw many cultural heritage sites there. One of them was the East and West Three-story Stone Pagodas at Gameunsa Temple Site, which was built to pray for national safety and to strengthen spiritual protection through Buddhism.

When I first saw the stone pagodas at Gameunsa Temple Site, I was surprised by how tall and massive they looked. I took this photo myself, and those people are my mother and my sister, which shows how tall the pagoda is (about 13 meters!). They almost feel like two giants guarding the sea. Atop the pagoda is a pointed metal finial, which symbolizes the connection between the earth and the heavens in Buddhist tradition. I began to wonder about how the Silla people managed to build something so perfectly shaped, out of just stone, and without modern tools.

These pagodas were built during the Unified Silla period, around the 680s, following the death of King Munmu. He asked to be buried in the East Sea so he could become a dragon to protect Korea from invaders. His son, King Sinmun, built this temple nearby to honor his father’s wish and to pray for peace through Buddhism. But today, only the stone pagodas remain. The rest of the temple, made of wood, was probably destroyed over time by war, fire, or just by nature.

It felt strange and kind of powerful to stand in front of something that’s stood for over 1,000 years. I actually wanted to touch the stone, just to feel that connection to the past and to see what a 1,000-year-old stone really feels like. These pagodas are located just outside Gyeongju, near the coast, in a quiet area with few visitors, which I thought was a little sad. Maybe people forget they are here because they are not in the city center, but there is something peaceful about that as well. In fact, toward the end of the Battle of Baekgang, the Japanese general Echi no Takutsu was killed in a nearby battle while fighting to help Baekje, Silla’s rival. That shows how this peaceful place was once surrounded by chaos and warfare, and that all those events from over 1,000 years ago are all part of the story of these pagodas.

After seeing these giant protectors of this country, I realized how people often forget the true meanings behind things as time passes. When I first visited, I didn’t even know that the pagodas were built to protect the country, but now I understand what they really stand for. That’s why I think more people should visit the Gameunsa Temple Site, not only to admire the beauty of the pagodas, but to stand in front of them and feel the 1,000 years of history of strength and protection they hold.