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Gounsa Temple – 고운사 (Uiseong, Gyeongsangbuk-do)
This posts contains affiliate links. I receive a percentage of sales, if you purchase the item after clicking at no expense to you. This will help keep the website running. Thanks, as always, for your support! Temple History Gounsa Temple, which means “Solitary Cloud Temple” in English, is located in Uiseong, Gyeongsangbuk-do. The temple is located to the west of Mt. Deungunsan, which means “Riding on the Clouds” in English. The temple was first established by the famed monk Uisang-daesa (625-702 A.D.) in 681 A.D. While the name of the temple originally meant “High Cloud Temple” in English, the meaning of Gounsa Temple changed to “Solitary Cloud Temple.” So while…
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Sammaksa Temple/Sangbulam Hermitage – 삼막사/상불암 (Anyang, Gyeonggi-do)
This posts contains affiliate links. I receive a percentage of sales, if you purchase the item after clicking at no expense to you. This will help keep the website running. Thanks, as always, for your support! Temple History Hello, everyone! Giuseppe back with my third temple and yet another mountaintop temple. This time, Sammaksa Temple, “Three Curtain Temple,” near the peak of Mt. Samseongsan, “Three Saint Mountain” in Anyang, Gyeonggi-do. Sammaksa Temple was first established in 677 A.D. during the Silla Dynasty as a small hermitage by the great monk Wonhyo-daesa. If this sounds familiar, it’s the same year that Uisang-daesa established what is now Yeonjuam Hermitage, just across the narrow valley,…
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Unsusa Temple – 운수사 (Sasang-gu, Busan)
This posts contains affiliate links. I receive a percentage of sales, if you purchase the item after clicking at no expense to you. This will help keep the website running. Thanks, as always, for your support! Temple History Unsusa Temple, which means “Cloud Water Temple” in English, is located in Sasang-gu, Busan. Specifically, Unsusa Temple is situated to the west of the peaks of Mt. Baekyangsan (641.3 m). As for the name of the temple, it’s in reference to the temple being elevated up near the clouds on Mt. Baekyangsan with a view out towards the East Sea. While the exact date of when Unsusa Temple was first built is…
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Cheoneunsa Temple – 천은사 (Gurye, Jeollanam-do)
This posts contains affiliate links. I receive a percentage of sales, if you purchase the item after clicking at no expense to you. This will help keep the website running. Thanks, as always, for your support! Temple History Cheoneunsa Temple is located northwest of the famed Hwaeomsa Temple in Gurye, Jeollanam-do. Cheoneunsa Temple is one of the three major temples located inside Jirisan National Park grounds alongside Ssanggyesa Temple and the aforementioned Hwaeomsa Temple. Cheoneunsa Temple, which means “Hidden Spring Temple” in English, was first founded in 828 A.D. Cheoneunsa Temple was founded by an Indian monk named Deokun. At this time, the temple was known as Gamnosa Temple. It…
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Jangansa Temple – 장안사 (Gijang-gun, Busan)
This posts contains affiliate links. I receive a percentage of sales, if you purchase the item after clicking at no expense to you. This will help keep the website running. Thanks, as always, for your support! Temple History Jangansa Temple in Gijang-gun, Busan is located at the foot of Mt. Bulgwangsan (659 m). The name of the temple comes from the local area of Jangan-eup, which is where the temple is located. Specifically, Jangansa means “Inside the Castle Temple” in English. The temple was first founded in 673 A.D. by the famed monk Wonhyo-daesa (617-686 A.D.). At first, the temple was known as Ssanggyesa Temple, which means “Twin Stream Temple”…
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Mihwangsa Temple – 미황사 (Haenam, Jeollanam-do)
This posts contains affiliate links. I receive a percentage of sales, if you purchase the item after clicking at no expense to you. This will help keep the website running. Thanks, as always, for your support! Temple History Mihwangsa Temple, which means “Beautiful Yellow Temple” in English, is located in Haenam, Jeollanam-do. According to the temple myth from the Samguk Yusa (Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms), which is one of the more interesting temple myths that you’ll find in Korea, Mihwangsa Temple was first founded in 749 A.D. Mihwangsa Temple, which is located to the west of Mt. Dalmasan (489 m), is the southernmost temple on the mainland Korean peninsula.…
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Dogapsa Temple – 도갑사 (Yeongam, Jeollanam-do)
This posts contains affiliate links. I receive a percentage of sales, if you purchase the item after clicking at no expense to you. This will help keep the website running. Thanks, as always, for your support! Temple History Dogapsa Temple is located in Yeongam, Jeollanam-do in Wolchulsan National Park. The temple was established in 880 A.D. by Doseon-guksa (827-898 A.D.). Originally, the temple site was home to a temple called Munsusa Temple, which was named after the Bodhisattva of Wisdom, Munsu-bosal. In fact, during a recent excavation that took place in 1999, there were roof tiles that date back to the Baekje Kingdom (18 B.C. to 660 A.D.) that were…
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Shinjung Taenghwa – The Guardian Mural: 신중 탱화
This posts contains affiliate links. I receive a percentage of sales, if you purchase the item after clicking at no expense to you. This will help keep the website running. Thanks, as always, for your support! Introduction The Shinjung Taenghwa is one of the most popular murals that you’ll find at a Korean Buddhist temple. In English, the Shinjung Taenghwa means “Altar Painting of Guardian Deities,” or the “Guardian Mural” for short. This mural is highly intricate. So what exactly does a Shinjung Taenghwa look like? Where can you find it? And what does it all mean? Shinjung Taenghwa Design The Shinjung Taenghwa is a relatively large sized mural. It…
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Cheongryeonam Hermitage – 청련암 (Geumjeong-gu, Busan)
This posts contains affiliate links. I receive a percentage of sales, if you purchase the item after clicking at no expense to you. This will help keep the website running. Thanks, as always, for your support! Hermitage History Cheongryeonam Hermitage, which means “Blue Lotus Hermitage” in English, is located on the Beomeosa Temple grounds in Geumjeong-gu, Busan. Of the eleven hermitages on the expansive Beomeosa Temple grounds, Cheongryeonam Hermitage is the closest to the main temple. It’s unknown as to when Cheongryeonam Hermitage was first built; however, records indicated that the hermitage was rebuilt in 1709 by the monk Shinju-daesa. It’s believed that Cheongryeonam Hermitage was rebuilt around the same…
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Borimsa Temple – 보림사 (Jangheung, Jeollanam-do)
This posts contains affiliate links. I receive a percentage of sales, if you purchase the item after clicking at no expense to you. This will help keep the website running. Thanks, as always, for your support! Temple History Borimsa Temple, which means “Treasure Forest Temple” in English, is located in Jangheung, Jeollanam-do. Located just south of Mt. Gajisan (509.9 m), Borimsa Temple was first established in 759 A.D. by the monk Wonpyo-daedeok. At this time, the temple was nothing more than a hermitage, and it was called Gajisansa Temple. Like all great temples in Korea, Borimsa Temple has an interesting creation myth. One day, after returning to the Korean peninsula…