Wontongjeon Hall of Pagyesa Temple, Daegu

Pagyesa Temple's founding records are not clear, but tradition holds that it was founded in 804, the fifth year of King Aejang of Silla, by the state preceptor (wangsa) Simji. At the foot of Palgongsan Mountain, the temple follows a typical mountain-site layout, with Wontongjeon Hall and Jindongnu Pavilion forming a north–south axis flanked by other buildings on either side. Wontongjeon Hall, the temple's central building, is known from a recently discovered ridge-beam inscription to have been begun in 1605 and completed the following year, 1606. Wontongjeon Hall has three bays across the front and three bays to the side, with a wooden floor laid inside. The framing of the stone platform and the shape and technique of its L-shaped corner stones resemble those of Muryangsujeon Hall at Buseoksa Temple in Yeongju, suggesting an archaic style that may date back as far as the Silla period, when the temple is traditionally said to have been founded. The Sumidan, the altar platform on which the Buddha image is enshrined and which symbolises Mount Sumeru, the centre of the Buddhist cosmos, is pierced with various openwork patterns; among these, the phoenix and crane motifs were carved to pray for the peace of the state and the long life of the royal descendants. Together with the votive text found inside the ritual deposit (bokjang) of the Dry-lacquer Seated Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva (a Treasure) and the robe of King Yeongjo, they show that Pagyesa Temple served as a royal votive temple (wondang), and the altar is regarded as a superior work compared with ordinary Sumidan platforms. The bracket sets (gongpo) have two outward and two inward projecting tiers (chulmok) alike, and some of the bracket arms (cheomcha) have a small opening (gongan) at the top, a trace of an archaic style. Window and door frames are fitted in all three bays of the front, and traces of a door jamb and a middle post on the upper lintel of the two side bays at the rear suggest that a pair of double swing-leaf panel doors once stood there. Wontongjeon Hall of Pagyesa Temple is confirmed by its ridge-beam inscription to have been rebuilt in 1606; it retains, relatively intact, an archaic stone platform and the typical bracket features found in dapo-style, gable-roofed buildings of the 17th–18th centuries, and it also preserves in their entirety various relics proving that the temple served as a royal votive temple, giving it value as a state-designated Treasure.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Dong-gu, Daegu

Designation

Treasure · 보물