Nectar Ritual Painting of Cheongnyongsa Temple

The Nectar Ritual Painting of Cheongnyongsa Temple shows the typical iconography of gamnodo—nectar ritual paintings depicting offerings made to hungry ghosts and departed spirits—that became popular in the Seoul and Gyeonggi region from the mid-nineteenth century onward, and it faithfully depicts the Buddhist ritual practices and everyday life of the time. At the top, seven Buddhas stand in a row with palms joined in prayer. On the left, the Amitabha Triad is shown descending on clouds to welcome the dead, together with kings, queens and ministers, former kings and queens, and the thunder god holding drumsticks; on the right, the Kshitigarbha Triad (Kshitigarbha Bodhisattva, the Venerable Domyeong, and the Ghost King Mudok) and the bodhisattva who guides the dead are shown likewise descending to welcome them. Together with the Nectar Ritual Painting of Suraksan Mountain (1868)—said to have been painted in 1898 by the monk-painter Jongun under the certification of the monk Gyeongseon Eungseok—and the Nectar Ritual Paintings of Gyeongguksa Temple (1887), Buramsa Temple (1890), Bongeunsa Temple (1892) and Bogwangsa Temple (1898), this painting is a representative example of the gamnodo iconography that flourished in the Seoul and Gyeonggi region from the latter half of the nineteenth century onward. It is a work that vividly captures scenes of Buddhist ritual, as well as the daily lives of ordinary people, at the time it was made.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Jongno-gu, Seoul

Designation

Provincial Tangible Heritage · 시도유형문화유산