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Five-Story Stone Pagoda in Wanggung-ri – 익산 왕궁리 오층석탑 (Iksan, Jeollabuk-do)
Temple Site History The Five-Story Stone Pagoda in Wanggung-ri is located in northeastern Iksan, Jeollabuk-do in the the Archaeological Site in Wanggung-ri, which is a Historic Site. It is unknown as to when this pagoda was first built, whether it was during the Baekje Kingdom (18 B.C. – 660 A.D.), or during Unified Silla (668-935 A.D.), or during the Goryeo Dynasty (918-1392). However, what is known is that the pagoda was created in the typical Baekje Kingdom style. From 1965-66, the Five-Story Stone Pagoda in Wanggung-ri was dissembled and reassembled. Prior to this, the base of the pagoda was buried in the ground. In total, the large pagoda consists of…
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Mireuksa-ji Temple Site – 미륵사지 (Iksan, Jeollabuk-do)
Temple Site Legend The site for Mireuksa Temple, like so many other famed temples on the Korean peninsula, has an entry about it in the Samguk Yusa (Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms). According to the Samguk Yusa, King Mu of Baekje (r. 600 – 641 A.D.) and his queen were on their way to Sajasa Temple when they saw a triad of Mireuk-bul (The Future Buddha) appearing above a pond near Mt. Yonghwasan (Dragon Flower Mountain). Later, at the request of the queen, King Mu of Baekje had the pond filled in with land, and a temple was built on the site where the royal couple saw the Mireuk-bul triad.…