Standing in front of the main hall of Dopiansa Temple, Dopiansa Samcheungseoktap is 4.1m tall; nothing tells us exactly when it was built. Some estimated that the pagoda was completed around 856 BC, the fifth year of King Gyeongmun, the 45th King of Silla, as the epitaph on its iron statue in the main hall tells; yet others take it from the end of the Silla Dynasty or the Goryeo Dynasty for its proportions and styles such as the use of a lotus pedestal or overall ratio of the whole body.

In any case, it is true that the pagoda was built with a unique style, different from the traditional pagoda style of Silla; for instance, it has an octagonal stylobate upon a square foundation stone, different from the typical style of the square-shape of pagodas. The lotus pattern is carved on each side of the octagonal stylobate at the bottom, and a flat stone is laid on the stylobate. On the flat stone, a large octagonal stone with an unfolding lotus of 16 petals is carved. On the octagonal stone, a two-step square-shaped cornice supports the face at each story, and there is no carving on the faces. On the stylobate is a two-step square-shaped stone and a lotus-carved stone. On top of that, the square-shaped three-step cornice supports the main body of the pagoda (where Buddhist relics are enshrined). The main body of the pagoda is square-shaped, similar to other typical stone pagodas, and its roof and body are made of stones. The roof cornice is not square-shaped, but rather appear in the shape of a half circle. The roof cornice of the first story is four steps and those of the second and third stories are three steps. There is only a flat cover stone on top of the pagoda.