Gaesimsa Temple Five-Tier Pagoda

SOUTH KOREA, North Gyeongsang, Yecheon

This pagoda is located at Gaesimsa (Open Mind Temple), which is no longer extant. According to the inscriptions on the base, the pagoda was built in 1010 during the Goryeo dynasty. It was listed as Treasure No. 53 in 1963.
The pagoda is 4.3 m high. The base platform and the base are divided into sections by intermediate and corner pilasters. The base platform is sculpted with reliefs of twelve figures with animal heads and human bodies, while the base has reliefs of the Eight Classes of Dharma Protectors. The south face of the first level of the pagoda body has a relief of a door with a handle in the center. There is a finely carved relief of a Dharma protector on each side of the door. The eaves on all levels are supported by four layers of corbeling and are turned slightly upwards at the corners. At the top of the pagoda only the base of the spire and an inverted bowl are extant. This pagoda is a work of the early Goryeo dynasty (918–1392) and has the typical form of a stone pagoda of that period.