Hampyeongbogwangsa Temple Temple Bell

This bell is kept in the bell pavilion to the left of the main worship hall. It is said to have originally belonged to Wongapsa Temple in Muan; after that temple fell into disuse, the bell was moved to Yongcheonsa Temple in Hampyeong, and then, to escape the turmoil of the Korean War, was relocated to its present site in 1967. In form, the dragon-shaped hook by which the bell is suspended consists of two dragons facing in opposite directions, their legs joined to the bell to bear its weight. Around the upper part of the body runs a double band, within which eight Sanskrit characters are engraved. Below this is a square nipple panel containing nine raised bosses arranged within it, and between the nipple panels standing bodhisattva figures are carved in relief. Around the lower part of the body runs a raised double line, between which an inscription states that the bell was made in the forty-third year of King Yeongjo (1767). The head of the bell omits the sound tube that normally helps amplify the tone, as well as the striking spot and the lower band pattern, giving it a simplified form. Given that bells cast in the eighteenth century tend not to exceed one metre in height, this bell, larger than that norm, is considered relatively large in scale.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Hampyeong, Jeonnam & Gwangju

Designation

Provincial Tangible Heritage · 시도유형문화유산