Guardian Deities Painting of Bukgosa Temple

The Guardian Deities Painting of Bukgosa Temple is enshrined in Yonghwajeon Hall at Bukgosa Temple, in Eumnae-ri, Muju-eup, Muju County, and is a late-Joseon Buddhist painting depicting sinjung, guardian deities. The sinjung were originally indigenous deities of India that were absorbed into Buddhism as protectors of the Dharma; in the late Joseon period they were sometimes painted separately and worshipped as objects of devotion in their own right. The painting is executed in colour on silk and measures 125.5 cm in height and 95.5 cm in width. It is composed in two registers. In the centre of the upper register is the Bodhisattva Dongjin; to its left are Mahesvara, the Bodhisattva Geumganggwon, the Bodhisattva Geumgangsaek, and a heavenly maiden; to its right are Indra, two wisdom kings (myeongwang), and a heavenly attendant boy. In the lower register, from left to right, are the Dragon King and the Four Heavenly Kings - Vaisravana of the North, Virupaksa of the West, Dhrtarastra of the East, and Virudhaka of the South. Red is the dominant colour, with green used in parts of the figures' dress. According to the inscription, the painting was enshrined in Yonghwajeon Hall at Bukgosa Temple in the third month of 1831, produced by the monk-painters Hwasun, Yun Gwan, Homuk and Min Hun. Sinjungdo - paintings that, in Mahayana Buddhism, incorporate not only India's own indigenous deities but also local deities from every region to which Buddhism spread - follow a well-established set of conventions, and the Guardian Deities Painting of Bukgosa Temple follows this typical iconography. Because its date of production and painters are precisely recorded, it offers a valuable glimpse into one facet of Buddhist devotion at the time it was made.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Muju, Jeonbuk

Designation

Provincial Tangible Heritage · 시도유형문화유산