Bulguksa, Buddhist temple in Gyeongju, South Korea.

Bulguksa is a Buddhist temple on the slopes of Tohamsan in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province. Its single-storey wooden halls stand on raised stone platforms reached by stone staircases, with a sweeping tiled roof and eaves painted in green, red and blue patterns. Two stone pagodas, Seokgatap and Dabotap, stand in the main courtyard.

A small temple was built on this site in 528 under King Beopheung. The present complex was begun in 751 by chief minister Kim Daeseong for his parents and completed in 774 by the Silla court. Wooden buildings burned during the Imjin wars; reconstruction ran from 1604 with about 40 renovations until 1805. Major restoration took place between 1969 and 1973.

Worshippers remove their shoes before entering the wooden halls today and monks still hold morning ceremonies inside the main structures. The name translates as Temple of the Buddha Land and refers to the idea of a world beyond suffering where the sacred appears.

Visitors reach the site by public buses from central Gyeongju and should bring comfortable shoes for the stairs and uneven paths. The compound is best explored in the early morning or late afternoon when fewer tour groups are present.

The two stone bridges at the entrance use granite cut so precisely that the blocks hold together without mortar. Seokgatap the simpler of the two pagodas shows a classic three-tier form while Dabotap has a more complex design with columns and an octagonal base.