Stone Buddha statue at Biro Temple designated North Gyeongsang cultural heritage

Yeongyang-gun in North Gyeongsang Province announced Wednesday that a stone Buddha statue housed at Biro Temple in Gipoeri, Cheongi-myeon has been newly designated a provincial cultural heritage resource under the name "Yeongyang Birosaji Seokjo Birojana Bulsajang" (Stone Seated Vairocana Buddha at Biro Temple, Yeongyang), in accordance with North Gyeongsang Province Notice No. 2026-289.

The designation came after roughly two years and three months of administrative work that began in April 2024 with expert consultations to assess the statue's heritage value. The process included drafting and submitting a formal report, an on-site investigation by members of the North Gyeongsang Province Cultural Heritage Committee's movable heritage subcommittee, and a public notice period before the final designation was confirmed.

Vairocana is the principal Buddha of the Avatamsaka Sutra and the Brahma Net Sutra. Likened to the sun, Vairocana is understood as the Buddha whose light illuminates all things in the world, dispelling darkness with a radiance that neither arises nor ceases.

The seated statue was crafted from stone during the Goryeo period. Among the grounds cited for designation was the observation that a similar Vairocana Buddha statue was produced at Chukseo Temple in neighboring Bonghwa-gun in the late ninth century, suggesting that production of such statues was widespread in the Gyeongsang region.

Yeongyang-gun Mayor Oh Do-chang said the designation "is the result of efforts to uncover, protect and pass on heritage that has long gone unrecognized," adding that the county would conduct a joint on-site survey with the provincial cultural heritage division to establish a conservation and management plan.