Gyeongju, the capital city of Silla dynasty which existed for a thousand years, has numerous mountains with historical remains and sites. Starting off with the enormous size of the royal tombs, an underwater royal tomb and temple, Buddhist temples on the mountains, outstanding pagodas, and beautiful traditional buildings on the fields, every part of Gyeongju is filled with amazing and splendid historical value. Among them is the world’s greatest artificial grotto at Toham Mountain, one of the highest mountains in Gyeongju. China and India are the first countries that constructed many huge grottos in the earlier years, but the ones they built were in natural caves.
 
Figure 1. Entrance to Seokgul Grotto

Only on one special day, Buddha’s birthday, Seokgul Grotto opens its door to everyone. People can enter the door without restrictions of religion, ethnicity, or nationality. In the morning of Buddha’s birthday, my family always wakes up early for our trip to Seokgul Grotto. Even though Seokgul Grotto is located in my region, it is difficult to visit on ordinary days due to the distance from the downtown to Toham Mountain. I have noticed that many foreigners and residents of other cities and provinces visit Seokgul Grotto on Buddha’s birthday even though they live far away from Gyeongju.

Seokgul Grotto is in the middle of the mountain, and it cannot be reached by cars. After passing through Bulguksa, people should walk further for approximately 1km more from the entrance. Also, the entrance of Seokgul Grotto is not big enough to accommodate more than ten people at the same time. Therefore, the earlier people get there, the more opportunities they get to look around Seokgul Grotto. Even though Seokgul Grotto is distant from the downtown and is geographically difficult to approach, I always feel an imposing and majestic atmosphere from the surrounding walls, pillars, and sculptures after entering the glass door. This is known to be one of the most outstandingly solemn Buddha pagodas in the world.  Buddha’s statue is located at the center of the grotto and it seems to always smile at my family. I experience different feelings every time I visit the Seokgul Grotto on Buddha’s birthday.

Figure 2. Reporter's family at the Seokgul Grotto Gate

A year ago, I asked my school classmates of Cheonan Bugil Academy Global Leader Program Class of 2019, “Do you know that the glass door of Seokgul Grotto is only open on Buddha’s birthday?” Eighty percent of my classmates did not know this fact. This percentage proves that teenagers these days do not have affection and interest in significant and interesting information about the historical remains, sites and value. I want to share this information to other teenagers so that they could enjoy and experience the outstanding and imposing atmosphere of Seokgul Grotto not only from the outside of the closed glass door, but also inside the glass door while celebrating Buddha’s birthday.

 
 







Eunseo Choi
Junior
Cheonan Bugil Academy Global Leader Program
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