The five-storeyed pagoda at the Pulil Temple is a stone tower, located in Pangjikdong, Kaesong City. Built during the time of Koryo dynasty (918– 1392), it (without its head) is 7.94 metres high.
The pagoda is composed of the base, body and head. The original head was gone, so a new one was set up. The base has two storeys each of which is composed of a pad slab, a middle slab and a roofing slab. Each middle slab has four pillars engraved on its corners and centre.
The body has five storeys each of which is composed of a foundation stone, a body stone and a roofing stone. Over 20 big and small artistic towers, sarira caskets, Buddhist scriptures and patchwork cloth were found from the first and second storeys. The body stone of the first storey has a hole which is 17 cm in width and length and 18 cm in depth, and from this hole were discovered a three-storeyed gilt bronze pagoda, 12 miniature stone pagodas and three sarira caskets. The body stone of the second storey also has a hole which is 24 cm in width and length and 37 cm in depth, and from here were discovered a ninestoreyed gilt bronze pagoda and a five-storeyed gilt bronze pagoda and ten miniature stone pagodas. The nine-storeyed and threestoreyed gilt bronze pagodas with sarira in are composed of a base and a body which are detachable. The nine-storeyed gilt bronze pagoda produced paper bearing a mystic Buddhist formula, which was wrapped by white, yellow and brown pieces of cloth in order, a bluish green glass bottle and a Buddhist rosary. The paper is a Koryo make, which is durable with fine luster and never becomes fuzzy or wormy. The bottom of the roofing stone of each storey is a little protruded, while the upper surface is slightly curved to form rather a steep slope. The lower and upper lines of the eaves are curved up slightly towards both ends.
The five-storeyed pagoda was constructed depending on Koguryo’s measurement. In the past the Japanese imperialists destroyed the upper part of the base in order to plunder the relics inside it. There are evident traces of their atrocities. The relics discovered in the pagoda are preserved in the Koryo Museum. The pagoda, belonging to the valuable cultural heritage of the nation, offers important information in studying the history and culture of Koryo.
Article: Choe Sol Mi
