Beomeosa Temple Bara

This is a pair of bara, cymbal-like percussion instruments, held at Beomeosa Temple. Bara are a type of Buddhist ritual implement, used as percussion during the bara dance, when offering incense, when reading sutras, during sermons or large assemblies, at funeral rites, and when welcoming a new abbot. The Beomeosa bara were made using the bangja technique, in which brass is hand-hammered into shape; overall, the rim flares outward and then curves back in, with the centre pressed inward to form a hole for attaching a cord, giving the piece the shape of a dish. The date of manufacture is estimated to be the late Joseon period, based on an inscription on the inner face of one of the cymbals recording the sexagenary-cycle year of production and what is presumed to be the name of the donor, reading 'Eulhae year, month, day... 70 ryang' (乙亥年月日 □□七十兩), ryang being a traditional unit of weight. The Beomeosa bara not only demonstrate well the traditional bangja hand-forging technique for brassware, but are also a valuable record owing to their early date of manufacture.

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Where it is

Region

Geumjeong-gu, Busan

Designation

Cultural Heritage Material · 문화유산자료