Kyoung Ju

Sokkuram/ Tumuli Park

Text: Before Pulguksa we went to see Sokkuram. From the temple parking lot we caught a bus that took a steep, winding road up the mountain. There were quite a few people there, including a group of students on a field trip from Seoul. An antechamber has been built onto the front of the grotto. Visitors go in one side, look through a pane of glass at the large Buddha statue, and go out the other side. Photos are not allowed inside, so we were glad to have the picture on the ticket.

(Page 2) The city of Kyoung Ju is dotted with huge burial mounds, some of them right in the middle of residential neighborhoods. The biggest are as high as 23 meters. We saw one that had a few full-sized trees growing on top. We visited Tumuli Park on Friday, and finished up our Saturday excursions by relaxing in another park area (this one we didn't have to pay to get into). There was a sign saying the mounds were not to be climbed on, but we noticed that a few had paths worn on them. On Sunday we attended the local branch (where we joined four elder and six members), and then caught a bus back to Taegu and the train back to Chonan.

 

Background Paper: Thai unryu (kozo and chiri white) from Daniel Smith.

Pens: Zig Writer brown, Micron black (01)

Scissors: Fiskars provincial

 

See more about Sokkuram grotto and burial mounds