A Portable Shrine for Buddhist Statuettes, Dedicated by Royal Women
Gilt-bronze Portable Shrine and Seated Shakyamuni Buddha Triad from the Five-story Octagonal Stone Pagoda of Sujongsa Temple
  • Joseon Dynasty, enshrined in 1493
  • Gilt bronze
  • Central Buddhist Museum (Entrusted by Sujongsa Temple)
  • Treasure

This miniature shrine was discovered from the first level of the five-story stone pagoda of Sujongsa Temple in Namyangju. The shrine was found containing two sets of a triad, crafted in gilt-bronze and wood, respectively. Three Buddha images and Vajrapani guardian figures are carved on the interior walls of the shrine, and the Buddha’s preaching scene is on the back of the shrine. This shrine set was commissioned by a group of royal women, including Lady Myeongbin of Gim, a concubine of the third King Taejong, and concubines of the ninth King Seongjong. Sujongsa Temple maintained close ties with the royal house of Joseon throughout its rule. Royal women also commissioned a seventeenth-century Buddha image found inside the same pagoda.