Geungnakjeon Hall of Daejeoksa Temple, Cheongdo

Daejeoksa Temple is said to have taken on its present form as a temple in 1689, the fifteenth year of King Sukjong of Joseon, when the monk Seonghae built the hall and enshrined a Buddha image within it. Geungnakjeon Hall, which appears to have been rebuilt sometime after the mid-Joseon period, is a worship hall representing Geungnak Jeongto, the Pure Land, the ideal paradise of Buddhists. It measures three kan across the front and two kan along the side, with a gable roof that, viewed from the side, forms the shape of the character 人 (person). To support the eaves, the hall is built in the dapo style, with decorative bracket clusters set both on top of the columns and between them. On the front of the stone platform, lotus and tortoise patterns are carved, surrounded by H-shaped line carvings, and dragons are carved on both sides of the steps — a feature of the platform's carving rarely found in other buildings. Inside, the ceiling is coffered in the shape of the character 井 (well) and is built up in tiers from front to back, an unusual arrangement, while above the altar a simple canopy solemnly frames the Buddha image. With its varied features inside and out, the building is an important source for the study of Joseon-period architectural and sculptural history.

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Where it is

Region

Cheongdo, Gyeongbuk

Designation

Treasure · 보물