• Artwork

    Sanshin-gak – The Mountain Spirit Hall: 산신각

    Introduction At a Korean Buddhist temple, you will often find shaman deities. Usually, you can find these shaman deities housed inside a shaman shrine hall called a Samseong-gak Hall. Housed inside this hall are Sanshin (The Mountain Spirit), Dokseong (The Lonely Saint), Chilseong (The Seven Stars) and/or Yongwang (The Dragon King). These shaman deities are also sometimes housed in their own shaman shrine halls like a Sanshin-gak, a Dokseong-gak, a Chilseong-gak, or a Yongwang-dang. Or there can be a combination with two shaman deities housed in the same shrine hall like inside a Sanshin/Dokseong-gak. Sanshin-gak Design The first of these shaman deities I’ll be talking about is Sanshin, or “The…

  • Artwork,  Video

    Video: Sanshin: The Mountain Spirit – 산신

    Hello Again Everyone!! Without a doubt, Sanshin is one of my favourite figures to enjoy at a Korean Buddhist temple. And with over 70% of Korea being occupied by mountains, it’s no wonder that Koreans have worshiped the shaman deity, Sanshin (산신), The Mountain Spirit, for thousands of years. This shaman deity, which is one of the most popular figures that Koreans pray to at a Korean Buddhist temple isn’t even Buddhist in origins. Sanshin can be male or female and is highly revered, often occupying a place in the main hall; or more typically, in a shaman shrine hall to the immediate rear of the main hall. So who…