Master Cheolgam was a monk of the Unified Silla period who, at the age of 28, traveled to Tang China to study Buddhism. He returned in the ninth year of King Munseong's reign (847) alongside National Preceptor Beomil, and initially settled at Mount Pungaksan to pursue his practice. It was only later, during the reign of King Gyeongmun, that he found himself drawn to the beautiful landscape of the Hwasun region and decided to build a temple here. That a monk who had traveled all the way to Tang China for his education chose this particular region purely for its scenery is itself notable.
He named the temple Ssangbongsa, after his own pen name, "Ssangbong." When he passed away at this temple in 868 (the eighth year of King Gyeongmun's reign) at the age of 71, the king bestowed upon him the posthumous title "Cheolgam" and ordered a stupa and memorial stele to be erected in his honor. Built in the form of an octagonal reliquary, the stupa's carvings are so intricate and precise that it is counted among the masterpieces of Unified Silla monastic stupas. Designated Korean National Treasure No. 57 in December 1962, this stupa represents a rare case in which the name a single monk left behind carried through to become both the temple's name and the name of a state-recognized national treasure.