Daeungjeon Hall of Ssanggyesa Temple, Hadong

Ssanggyesa Temple is said to have been founded in the twenty-first year of King Seongdeok of Unified Silla (722) by the monks Daebi and Sambeop, who originally called it Okcheonsa Temple; King Jeonggang (r. 886–887) is said to have renamed it Ssanggyesa, meaning "twin streams," after seeing the terrain around the temple where two valleys meet. The temple burned down during the Japanese invasions of 1592, and was rebuilt by Master Byeogam in the tenth year of King Injo (1632), in the form it retains today. The Daeungjeon Hall, the temple's main worship hall enshrining a statue of Sakyamuni Buddha, is presumed to be a building reconstructed at that time. It measures five kan across the front and three kan along the side, and has a hip-and-gable roof that forms the shape of the Chinese character for "eight" when viewed from the side. The bracket structures that support the roof eaves are arranged not only above the columns but also between them, in what is known as the dapo style; the members projecting outward show relatively elegant curves and an old-fashioned style. In the central three bays, two sets of bracket clusters flank each of the four hinged doors between the columns, while the end bays on either side each have two-leaf doors with a single bracket cluster. The ceiling is finished as a "well" ceiling, concealing the underside of the roof in a grid pattern like the character for a well, and above the altar an elaborately decorated canopy shaped like a miniature roof has been installed. The columns are tall throughout, giving the building an impression of great scale, and it preserves well the form of Buddhist wooden architecture of the Joseon period, making it an important resource for research.

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Where it is

Region

Hadong, Gyeongnam

Designation

Treasure · 보물