The Sacred Bell of King Seongdeok is the biggest beomjong (temple bell) in Korea. It is about 3.75 meters high, and its diameter is about 2.4 meters. And it weighs about 19 tons. That is about 41,000 pounds. But it is not the biggest temple bell that has been ever built in Korea. Around the same time as this Sacred Bell was built, another bell, a much bigger one was built weighing more than 50 tons, if historical records are correct. But this bell was lost during the Mongol invasion. And so, the Sacred Bell is the biggest one among all those existing temple bells in Korea. And the work started about 742 CE, and it took almost 30 years to complete the bell. The bell was commissioned by King Gyeongdeok to honor his father, King Seongdeok, as the name suggests. And it is currently housed in the National Museum of Gyeongju. Originally, the bell was in Bongdeok Temple. But the temple was lost by a flood, and the bell was neglected. The bell had been neglected for several hundred years. And in the 16th century, the bell was moved to near the city wall of Gyeongju, and started to be used to signal time. So, this is a picture taken in 1900. And as you can see, there is this bell tower, belfry here, in which the Bell was housed. And this small hill behind the bell tower is Bonghwangdae, one of the ancient tombs in Silla. And this is another picture of the bell tower in which the bell was housed. And in 1915, the Cultural Heritage Center in Gyeongju was built, and the bell was relocated into the center. And this is the picture that was taken at that time. As you can see, the current bell has the original shape. As you can see in this picture. And currently, the bell is housed in the National Museum of Gyeongju in this way.