Yonggungsa Temple

Yonggungsa Temple, on the north-eastern slope of Baegunsan Mountain on Yeongjongdo Island, is said to have been founded in 670, the tenth year of King Munmu of Silla, by the monk Wonhyo. It was rebuilt in 1854, the fifth year of King Cheoljong of Joseon, by Heungseon Daewongun, at which time it was given its present name, Yonggungsa. The temple complex includes the Gwaneumjeon Hall, Yonghwanggak Hall, Chilseonggak Hall and a monks' quarters, together with a recently made Maitreya Buddha statue standing 11 metres high. The Gwaneumjeon Hall is a gable-roofed building whose side profile takes the shape of the character 人, meaning "person". Four wooden couplet boards inscribed by Haegang Kim Gyu-jin still hang on its pillars. The hall is said originally to have enshrined a jade statue of Gwaneum, the Buddhist goddess of mercy, which was stolen during the Japanese colonial period; a bronze Gwaneum statue is now enshrined there instead. The monks' quarters by the entrance is likewise gable-roofed, and on its front hangs a horizontal board reading "Yonggungsa", written in Heungseon Daewongun's own hand.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Yeongjong-gu, Incheon

Designation

Provincial Tangible Heritage · 시도유형문화유산