Guksajeon Shrine of Songgwangsa Temple, Suncheon

Songgwangsa Temple on Jogyesan Mountain is one of the three great temples of Korea and very old. Its name is said to come from Songgwangsan, the mountain's former name; there is no exact record of its founding, though one says the monk Chejing built it at the end of Silla. Guksajeon enshrines the portraits of sixteen eminent monks who brought honour to the country, to honour their virtue; it was once a meditation hall. It was first built in 1369, under King Gongmin, and has been repaired twice since. It is four bays wide and three deep, under a gabled roof shaped like the character for person seen from the side, with brackets on the columns only. Inside, the ceiling is coffered in a grid like the character 井 and decorated with lotus; the lotus of the ceiling and the dragons on the main beams appear to survive from when the hall was built. Its structure is early Joseon, and it is thought to be of the same date as Hasadang at Songgwangsa. Plain and compact, it is a standard example of the middle phase of the column-head bracket style.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Suncheon, Jeonnam & Gwangju

Designation

National Treasure · 국보