Geumsansa Temple

SOUTH KOREA, North Jeolla, Gimje

Geumsansa, which stands for Golden Mountain Temple, was the founding temple of the Beopsang school and became the headquarters for the Maitreya faith during the Unified Silla dynasty (668–935). It is now the head temple for the 17th district of the Jogye order of Korean Seon Buddhism. The temple was originally built in 599 during the Baekje dynasty. Master Chinpyo reconstructed and expanded the temple in 766 during the Silla dynasty. It was destroyed during the Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598) but was rebuilt in 1635 during the Joseon dynasty.
Structures within the temple compound include the Maitreya Hall, Hall of Great Silence and Light, Judgment Hall, Great Canon Hall, ordination platform, five-tier stone pagoda, and the hexagonal eleven-tier stone pagoda.
The Maitreya Hall houses the Maitreya Buddha Triad. The hall was listed as National Treasure No. 62 in 1962. The seven-by-four bay Hall of Great Silence and Light has a single-eave hip-and-gable roof. It contains statues of Sakyamuni Buddha, Amitabha Buddha, Vairocana Buddha, Vairocana Buddha, and Medicine Buddha. These five Buddhas are flanked on either side by six Bodhisattvas, which are Mahasthamaprapta, Avalokitesvara, Manjusri, Samantabhadra, Suryaprabha, and Candraprabha Bodhisattvas.
There is the five-tier stone pagoda standing in front and to the right of the Hall of Great Silence and Light Hall. It was built during the Goryeo dynasty (918–1392) and was listed as Treasure No. 25 in 1963. Behind the pagoda there is a square ordination platform with a stone stupa placed in the center. The ordination platform was listed as Treasure No. 26 in 1963. The hexagonal eleven-tier stone pagoda was built in the early Goryeo dynasty and listed as Treasure No. 27. It is 2.2 m high and the eaves of each tier are so close together that the body seems invisible.