Browsing the archives for the Temples & shrines category

Manbulsa (만불사): Temple of Ten-thousand Buddhas

If you’ve ever taken the bus from Gyeongju to Daegu, you might’ve caught a fleeting glimpse of a giant golden Buddha off in the mountains to the north.  No, this isn’t some apparition induced by sleep deprivation or soju poisoning.  This huge Buddha actually overlooks Manbulsa (만불사), or literally “Temple of Ten-thousand Buddhas,” nestled at [...]

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Video: Seonmudo (선무도) Demonstration

Last month my University asked me to help guide a tour of Korean-American students around Gyeongju for a day.  That afternoon we stopped by Golgulsa (골굴사) Temple for a short lesson in Seonmudo (선무도), or Korean Zen martial arts.  In all the times I’d been to Golgulsa, I’d never actually seen what Seonmudo actually is.  [...]

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Itinerary: 10 Days in Gyeongju

Not to become a broken record or anything, but most tourists just bounce down to Gyeongju for a long weekend, hit up the big tourist sites, and head home Sunday night. It’s a shame really. You can barely even scratch the surface of what Gyeonju has to offer in 2 days. [...]

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Dang-namu (당나무): Sacred Trees of the Village

If you’ve spent any time touring the Korean countryside, you might have noticed a single gnarly old tree standing nearby a farm village here or there. These trees are actually called Dang-namu (당나무) and according to Korean folk religion (a form of Korean Shamanism) they are actually one of the village’s Dong-shin (동신), [...]

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Pear Flowers (배 꽃) & Bokwonsa Temple (복원사)

The other Sunday the sun was finally shining after a solid week of rain.  My wife and I hopped in the car and took off to explore the countryside determined to enjoy some of the hard-earned Spring weather.   As luck would have it, we drifted back some country roads going west out of town, and [...]

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Special Events for Buddha’s Birthday (석가탄신일): Friday, May 21st

Coming up in about a week and a half is my absolute favorite holiday in Korea: Seokga Tanshinil (석가탄신일), or Buddha’s Birthday.   Every temple in Korea celebrates Buddha’s Birthday one way or another.  Most hang lanterns, have special ceremonies and serve a special group lunch or dinner for parishioners.  A few of the larger or [...]

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Seogyeongsa (서경사) Japanese Zen Temple

The other week my wife and I were walking through an older neighborhood of Gyeongju on our way downtown to grab a burger at McDonalds (Yeah, yeah. I know, but she’s pregnant.  I’m not going to argue.)  About a block from the courthouse, we turned the corner and stumbled on something we’d not seen since [...]

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My Gyeongju Top 10

I know it’s all the trend these days, but I figured it was about time I sat down and wrote out my personal top ten “to do” list for Gyeongju.  Some of these I’ve posted on already, and if I haven’t yet, I hope to soon. So here they are in brief; counting down from 10 [...]

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The Four-sided Buddha of Gulbulsa Temple (굴불사)

Just a few blocks down from City Hall in Dongcheon-dong is one of the lesser known historical gems in Gyeongju, the four-sided Buddha of  Gulbulsa Temple (굴불사).  The original Shilla era structures of Gulbulsa are long gone, but remaining is a striking four-sided Buddha, or samyeonseokbul (사면석불), chiseled out of a large boulder.  In fact, [...]

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Ichadon (이차돈) Continued

My wife and I went out for a short hike yesterday on Mt. Geumgansan (금강산) to get some exercise and enjoy a bit of the Spring weather.  As I’d just posted on the legend of of Ichadon (이차돈), I figured we’d take walk up to Baegyulsa Temple (배귤사), which was built on the spot where [...]

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