Buddha's Birthday in Gyeongju

Buddha's birthday rolled around again, and as tradition dictates, I visited three temples.

Bunhwangsa

First was Bunhwangsa. It dates from the 7th century, although it has been reconstructed a couple of times. The pagoda is a reconstruction of one of the first pagodas built in Korea. Overall, it's a rather small temple, but it's near several other famous sites.





From Bunhwangsa we attempted to take the bus to Bulguksa. After waiting for about 15 minutes, the other people waiting at the bus stop told us they had been waiting for an hour. So we started walking toward the bus terminal in town. About half way there we saw buses headed to Bulguksa. So we grabbed a bus from there.

Traffic on the road leading to Seokguram/Bulguksa.


Seokguram

Seokguram Grotto is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Grotto itself is a temple that's been buried under a mound, much similar to the burial mounds throughout town. Inside are sculptures of Buddha and various other apparitions. Buddha's Birthday is the one time of the year (although maybe on Lunar New Year's Day as well) that you can go inside and walk around the Buddha. On the list of World Heritage Sites that I've visited, I wouldn't rank this one very high.


The outside of the Grotto.


Bulguksa

The final stop was Bulguksa, which is probably the most famous temple in Gyeongju. It's not a particularly impressive temple, but on the night of Buddha's Birthday it does have a bit of charm. Unfortunately, it started to rain so the crowd thinned out and the lantern parade around the pagoda was reduced to a few hardy souls. I still managed to get a few decent photos of the temple and lanterns, so I was happy.

Buddha's Birthday

Buddha's Birthday is a national holiday, so I headed to Busan to check out some of the festivities. The temples hang paper lanterns all over the place, I visited two previously seen temples and a new one as well.

Haedong Yonggung-sa

The first temple I visited was Haedong Yonggung-sa. It is located on the coast, with a dramatic vista. It's a bit of a ways from central Busan. If anyone reading this decides to go there, take bus #181 from Haeundae Station. None of the buses the on-line tourist information recommends get quite as close.
















Samgwang-sa

Next in line was Samgwang-sa. This is my second visit to this temple. Lots of lanterns and a wide range of concessions to buy.
















Beomeo-sa

Also my second visit to this temple. I arrived there as night was falling, which appears to be the best time to go. The lanterns were being lit and there was a large crowd participating in the festivities. The little road up the mountain was so overtaxed that it was faster to walk.

More Temples: Tongdosa & Naewonsa

This past weekend brought forth some more nice weather. As an added benefit, the cherry blossoms are in bloom. Given the nice weather, I decided to head out and visit a couple more temples in the area.



Tongdosa

The first temple I visited was Tongdosa. It is one of the three main temples in Korea, along with Songgwangsa, which I have already visited, and Haeinsa, which I will probably visit in the next month or two. Like many of the other temples in the area, it dates back to the 7th century. While none of the structures are overly impressive, it does have a very scenic mountain location. The walk from the parking lot to the temple is alongside a stream and lined with pine trees. Unfortunately, there seems to be some sort of disease or pest that is stripping the pine trees of their bark, so a lot of trees are being taken down. But there are still plenty to see.



Along the path, there are numerous rocks with Chinese lettering carved in them.



The main area of the main temple. There are also 19 smaller temples located along the road heading up the mountain.




Naewonsa

Nearby is another temple, albeit less impressive. I haven't been to able to find much information about it on line though. There are only a few structures, but they are a little more brightly painted than at most other temples. The hike from the parking lot to the temple is also quite scenic, with trails extending beyond the temple going further up the mountains.



One interesting face of this temple is the monks. If you look closely, through the shaved heads and gray robes, you will notice that they are all women. In fact, a book, Women in Korean Zen, was written about the women monks at Naewonsa.




This upcoming weekend brings a return of the Korean bullfighting festival that I attended last year. I also plan on hitting the Yeongdeuk Snow Crab Festival near Pohang, which is tempting me with free fishing boat rides. Expect a full report with pictures in a week or so.

Busan Temples: Beomeosa & Samgwangsa

A couple of temples in Busan that I explored over the past weekend. Both will be added to my 33 temple hike, which brings the total to five.

Beomeosa

Beomeosa (official Korean website) is one of the most famous temples in Korea. The original structures date back to the 7th century. There are also a lot of hiking trails around the temple, but they don't do a good job of indicating which direction to go. It's best to just follow the road up to the temple and hike away from there. Not a lot of pictures, as my camera batteries indicated that they were running out of juice.




Samgwangsa

While much less historic, Samgwangsa offers some pretty impressive temple buildings. The main hall is one of the largest I've ever seen. The auxiliary buildings are equally impressive in size. It's much more of an urban setting than the other temples I've visited, but well worthwhile nevertheless.

Buddhist Temples: Seonamsa, Songgwangsa, & Ssanggyesa

This last weekend I ventured out to nearby Suncheon to see some temples and do some hiking.

A brief Korean lesson:

Sa (사) in Korean means temple, so the names of all the temples end in -sa. San (산) means mountain, so most mountains end in -san, although some end in bong (봉), which means peak.

Note: The first link is to the official web site, which is in Korean. The second link is to the tourism web site in English.

Seonamsa

My first stop on Saturday was Seonamsa. Seonamsa is located at the base of Jogyesan. It dates back almost 900 years and is one of the major temples of Korean Buddhism.

A few of the temple buildings


A monk in one of the temple buildings



Songgwangsa

Songgwangsa is located on the other side of Jogyesan. To get there, you can take a bus from Seonamsa back to Suncheon and another bus out to Songgwangsa. Or you can hike a 7 km trail over Jogyesan. I, of course, chose the trail. It was a fairly easy 3-hour hike, with a manicured path and lots of stone steps. Like Seonamsa, it is another old temple with great importance to Korean Buddhism.

The main hall of Songgwangsa


A closer look at the main hall


A few of the roof tops




Ssanggyesa

On Sunday, I headed to another nearby temple, Ssanggyesa. It is located near Jirisan, one of the top mountain hiking destinations in Korea. While I didn't have time to hike there this weekend, I am sure to be back sometime this year. I'm currently eyeing a couple three day weekends in May. Like the other temples, Ssanggyesa is located in a picturesque mountain setting with a large array of buildings and treasures.

One of the scenes at Ssanggyesa


Another temple building


All in all, it was an excellent weekend getaway. The temples were excellent and the scenery around them is quite beautiful as well. I'm currently looking to find other temples in the area, and hope to design a temple hike around southern South Korea. Most pilgrimages consist of 33 or 88 temples, so I'll probably set 33 as my initial goal. So look for my list to grow in the near future.