This paper reexamines the Buddhist reliquaries from the nine storied wooden pagoda of Hwangnyongsa in Kyongju, which was the most famous temple for the Buddhism of national protection. This pagoda was built in the mid-seventh century according to the suggestion of the monk Chajang(慈藏) who returned from China. He brought Buddha's head bones, Buddha's teeth, and one hundred pieces of sarira from China, some parts of which relics were deposited in the bottom of this pagoda. This pagoda had been repaired many times and destroyed in 1298.
The relic deposits of the pagoda was discovered in 1964 and there were found many important artifacts, some from the relic chamber which was carved on the surface of the foundation stone and some from the underground of the foundation stone. Previous studies presumed that those from the relic chamber were only related with sarira worship.Those from the underground were thought to be related with the rituals for the consolation of the god of the land or with the rituals of building a platform for the esoteric buddhism.
However, we should consider that some powdered bones were founded inside the white porcelain jar deposited beneath the foundation stone, and many precious artifacts were scattered around the jar. This white porcelain jar could be the forgotten relic casket which was buried with the Buddha's bone during the first establishment in the pagoda in 645 by the monk Chajang. Those precious artifacts could have been deposited by the royal donors for the offering of the Buddha's bone. So, the artifacts from the underground of the foundation stone were the Buddhist offering of the Buddha's relic. It is very important and interesting that the combinations of them are very similar to the deposits of the royal tombs of that time. It shows that the royal donors thought that the pagoda would be a kind of a tomb of the Buddha in the seventh century in Silla.