Kenneth E. Harker
2008 Korea - Silleuksa Temple

We visited Silleuksa Temple on a Tuesday afternoon. Located on the banks of the Namhan River in far eastern Gyeonggido, Silleuksa is the only riverside Buddhist temple in Korea. It was founded around the year 580 by Silla Dynasty monk Wonhyo and remains an active religious temple today. We did have to pay a small fee to enter the temple. There was also a small gift shop and restaurant, but we did not visit it. We visited with Hong Seungsup HL2SSH, a Director of the Korean Amateur Radio League, Chen Ping BA1HAM, former president of the Chinese Radio Sports Association, and Mr. Chen's wife. As we were there on a weekday afternoon, there were no crowds.

These photos are copyright © 2008 Kenneth E. Harker. All rights reserved.

	The main gate into the temple grounds. The gate is painted in dancheong, a traditional Joseon Dynasty style of decorative painting based on a pallete of blue-green and cinnabar.
	This banner was near the main temple gate beside the gravel road. It is urging Buddhists to participate in nationwide religious services on August 27 to protest against the government. Buddhists in Korea had a long list of grievances including Christian evangelical remarks by the President and preferential appointments of Christians in government service. As it happens, we visited Jogyesa Temple in Seoul on the morning of August 27.
	Two of the temple buildings in Silleuksa. The tri-color symbol painted on the side of the building is a religious symbol specifically associated with the Jogye Order of Buddhism. The red represents heaven, the blue represents earth, and the yellow represents man. The same colors are in the sam taegeuk, used as both a national and religious symbol throughout Korea.
	This pavilion held the drums and bells that are used for calls to prayer.
	These drums are used to sound the times that monks are set to pray, as well as the start of religious services.
	A large bell used for religious services.
	The hanging dragon fish is actually a form of bell and can be chimed with a mallet.
	One of the temple buildings.
	The central courtyard and the main temple building. The seven-tier stone pagoda dates to the early years of the Joseon Dynasty, and is about six centuries old.
	The Buddha and Bhodisatvas in the main temple of Silleuksa are covered in gold. The Buddhist temples I had visited in China were a lot less restrained in their use of gold than were the Buddhist temples in Korea.
	As the electric fan attests, most of the buildings in the temple were wired for electricity.
	The alcove to the right of the main altar. The small statues on the back wall each hold a single votive candle that was lit.
	The ceiling was full of paper lanterns, each of which had an electric light in it and a piece of paper hanging from it. Each piece of paper has one of a variety of prayers or hymns on it. They were individually numbered, and I assume were paid for by individual subscription as an offering to support the temple.
	Some of the other buildings in the temple. All of the buildings were in the traditional style of Joseon Dynasty architecture called hanok.
	An old painting on one of the exterior walls of a temple building. It has faded with age and there are cracks and flaws in the plaster surface.
	A building in the temple that was not open when we were there.
	An old gate painted with characters from a Korean folk story.
	This small building is called Josadong, and holds religious relics. It is the oldest building at Silleuksa. I like how the roof is all out of proportion with the size of the building itself.
	Inside Josadong are portraits of three Buddhist priests. On the left is Naong (c. 1320-1376), a Seon master originally from China who planted the oldest tree in Silleuksa. The portrait in the middle is of Muhak (c. 1327-1405), the religious advisor to King Yi Taejo, the founder of the Joseon Dynasty. The portrait on the right is of Jigong (d. 1363), a priest who came to Silleuksa from India.
	A descriptive plaque outside Josadong. None of the other buildings had plaques like this.
	One of the temple buildings was a shrine especially for honoring ancestors.
	The inside was filled with statues of the dead. I presume many of these were royal patrons of the temple. Most of the statues were of men wearing royal hanbok clothing.
	This statue with a broken nose was apparently intended to hold a pole.
	Chen Ping's wife, standing beside a wall made of tiles. Elsewhere in the temple, a small kiosk offered tiles for subscription. By donating money, you could write a prayer or greeting on the tile that would be used to build walls or repair roofs. This wall is old enough that none of the tiles had prayers written on them.
	Another shrine in the temple. Like the main one, there were paper lanterns hanging from the roof, but not as many prayer papers were hanging from the lanterns. This room was larger and could probably hold more people during a religious service.
	A painting on one of the interior walls.
	There was a fountain at the temple. Chen Ping and his wife stopped for a drink.
	The Namhan River. The Namhan is a major tributary of the Han River and the name literally means "Southern Han". In this part of Korea, it flows from south to north. Across the river are some apartment buildings. Even in the country, a lot of Koreans choose to live in multi-tenant housing.
	This six-tier brick pagoda overlooks the Namhan River. It is one of a handful of brick pagodas in Korea, and I am sure was a major landmark for river navigation.
	The Namhan River, as seen from the hill of the brick pagoda. This is looking roughly north, or downstream.
	On the hillside below the six-tier brick pagoda was a smaller three-tier pagoda and a nice pavilion overlooking the river.
	A large apartment building on the far shore of the Namhan River.