Simhyangsa Temple

Simhyangsa Temple was founded during the Silla period by the Great Master Wonhyo under the name Mireugwon. It is not known when the name changed to Simhyangsa, but the Sinjeung dongguk yeoji seungnam records it as Sinwangsa, and according to a record found in the Mireukjeon Hall it appears to have been called Sinhwangsa until around 1789, the thirteenth year of King Jeongjo. It is said that in 1011, the second year of King Hyeonjong of Goryeo, when the Khitan army invaded, King Hyeonjong took refuge here in Naju and prayed for the peace of the nation; since the name Sinhwangsa (神皇寺) uses the character 皇 ("emperor"), it is presumed that the king may have taken part in a great Buddhist assembly held at this temple. The temple grounds contain the Mireukjeon and Geungnakjeon halls, along with a stone pagoda and a stone Buddha statue made during the Goryeo period. The Mireukjeon Hall houses a seated stone Buddha, and the Geungnakjeon Hall houses a seated Amitabha Buddha. In particular, the Seated Amitabha Buddha of Simhyangsa Temple (a Jeollanam-do Tangible Cultural Heritage) is a dry-lacquer statue made of lacquered hemp cloth, produced during the Goryeo period in around the thirteenth to fourteenth century, and is a valuable resource for research on Buddhist statues of the late Goryeo period.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Naju, Jeonnam & Gwangju

Designation

Cultural Heritage Material · 문화유산자료