Reliquary

Early Goryeo, from Seo-ocheung Stupa
Gwangju National Museum, Korea

This sarira reliquary is guarded, photo right, by four directional kings at the corners. Its central casket, that holds the sarira, is shaped like a lotus bud and enclosed within an honorific fence. Its detachable cover, photo left, is decorated with bodhisattvas on the sides (one of the four bodhisattvas is now missing), and flowers and wind-bells along the edge of the roof.