Saturday, March 5, 2016

Bulguksa Temple - A Treasure Of Silla Heritage... Part I

The day got off on a rainy note, with a heavy downpour all through the night. And it was quite cold, but the Korean-style floor heating or ondol made our room nice and comfortable right through to the morning, which was great!
Our first destination this morning was the historic Bulguksa Temple on the outskirts of Gyeongju city, from where kicked off Gyeongju tour!



There was nothing better in life than sipping through a steaming cup of tea and watching rain outside...


We walked through the streets to reach the Gyeongju bus terminal from we boarded our tour bus...


A 45 minute drive brought us to the the slopes of a hillock called Toham in Jinheon-dong, where the Bulguksa Temple is located. And the scenery looked as though it were straight out of a fairy tale - the veil of mist was just about lifting revealing the stark winter landscape...



Moments like these remind you that you ought to slow down a bit in life...




Guarding the Bulguksa Temple...



Stepping into the temple complex...

It is believed that the temple had its origins in a small temple that was built here, on this location, during the reign of King Beopheung in the year 528 AD. The shrine was expanded and the current temple complex started taking shape under the reign of the Silla monarch, King Gyeongdeok in 751. It is believed that King Gyeongdeok's prime minister Kim Daeseong conceptualized this temple complex as a homage to his parents. The complex was completed in 774 and was given its current name Bulguksa which literally means the Temple of the Buddha Land.


The temple complex was renovated during the Goryeo Dynasty and the Joseon Dynasty. The wooden buildings were burned to the ground, but starting 1604, a series of reconstruction and expansion activities of the temple complex started, that went on till 1805. During the Japanese occupation of Korea during 1910-1945, a further restoration was conducted.
As Korea emerged from the aftermath of the Second World War and the Korean War, a partial restoration of the complex was conducted in 1966. President Park Chung Hee ordered another series of restoration activities which were conducted between 1969 and 1973, bringing the Bulguksa complex to its current form. 



The Museoljeon or the Hall of No Words - it gets its name from the belief that Buddha's teachings could not be taught by mere words alone. This is one of the oldest buildings in the complex and is believed first built in 670...



A fish shaped bell...


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