Stone Seated Buddha at Gwanbong Peak in Palgongsan Mountain, Gyeongsan

This Buddhist statue in Palgongsan Mountain was made during the reign of Queen Seondeok (r. 632-647) of the Silla kingdom (57 BCE-935 CE). Because the buddha is depicted with a hat, it is commonly known as Gatbawi (“stone hat”) Buddha.

Both the buddha and the pedestal were carved from a single mass of rock, but the hat was carved separately. The rock behind the buddha serves as a natural halo. His right hand reaches down toward the ground, and his left hand rests on his lap, indicating his defeat of worldly desires and attainment of spiritual enlightenment. In the left hand, there appears to be a circular object, which was thought to be a medicine bowl which signifies the Medicine Buddha. But recent 3D scanning revealed that it was actually the buddha’s thumb bent towards his palm, making the identity of the buddha uncertain. A similar hand posture is found on the buddha at Seokguram Grotto in Gyeongju. The statue’s height, including the pedestal, measures about 5.9 m, and the width between both knees measures 3.2 m.

According to a local folktale, the buddha will grant at least one wish to those who earnestly plead to him. Because the buddha’s hat looks like a graduation cap, it is also believed that he helps students get good results on the college entrance exam, and thus many people visit here to pray.

Source: Korea Heritage Service signboard ↗ · collected 2026-10-08