Beopjusa Temple Hall of Eight Pictures

SOUTH KOREA, North Chungcheong, Boeun

The Hall of Eight Pictures is the highest wooden hall and the only five-tier wooden pagoda-like structure in Korea. It was built in 553 during the Silla dynasty by monk Uisin, and rebuilt by Seon Master Byeogam between 1605 and 1626 after the temple was destroyed during the Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598). It was listed as National Treasure No. 55 in 1962.
This square five-tier structure is 22.7 m high. It stands on a stone base platform with steps on each side. There is a central pillar that extends all the way up to the roof. The first and second tiers are five-by-five bays, and the remaining tiers decrease in size with height. Each tier has middle eaves with bracket sets designed differently from those of traditional wooden structures. The first four tiers have bracket sets only above the column capitals, while the fifth tier has intermediate bracket sets. All the tiers, except the fifth, have doors and windows. On top of the pyramidal roof there is a spire consisting of a square harmika, five steel stacked rings, and a finial. The hall houses a copper statue of Sakyamuni Buddha entering Parinirvana, statues of five hundred Arhats, and a large mural that depicts the eight events of the Buddha’s Life. A reliquary was found in the base platform during its reconstruction in 1968.