Seongjusa Temple, Changwon

We have visited our first temple and let me say that it's nothing shot of breathtaking. The amount of detail that goes into the construction of these temples is amazing. Most of the fancy designs are made out of carved wood and painted with a great amount of detail. Each building has it's purpose, one was clearly a place to eat and read as there was a library and a kitchen on each side of the room. Another building was blocked off to the public which tells me it's where they live and the one we went in was where they had their ceremonies. Every inch of that interior was covered with art and meticulous detailed paintings and wood carvings. The front of the room was covered in Buddhas and other relics.

The grounds around the temples are covered in little Buddhas of all shapes and sizes that were left by visitors, I thought of taking one as a souvenir but my consciense kicked in and I didn't. There was one relic Buddha that was about 4'5" tall and was enclosed in a secured structure and this is it's story:

Standing gwaneumbosal statue in Seongjusa, Changwon

The Gwaneumbosal, representative of Buddha’s compassion, is believed to appear in various forms according to the wishes of human beings to bring them salvation. Thus, this Buddha was greatly worshipped as mentioned throughout all the sutras of Mahayana Buddhism.

Made from granite, this statue is carved with a nimbus and lotus flower pattern pedestal. The head is bare and the round face has a tender expression. The hands position represents a Bodhisattva lecturing on Buddhist sutras; thus, the thumb and index finger of the right hand are touching and raised up toward the stomach. The shoulders are rounded and both feet can be seen stepping on the lotus flower patterns. The clothing is draped upon both shoulders in the shape of a thick U and falls down to the feet. Compared to the upper torso, the lower torso is shorter and less detailed, and considering its rather two-dimensionality, this figure probably dates to the Goryeo dynasty (918-1392). This statue of Gwaneumbosal was unearthed at the present location, and at this very spot Yonghwajeon was built around it as a protective structure for this statue.

Website with more Seongjusa info. http://eng.changwon.go.kr/sub02/sub_01_10.jsp

To view larger images just click on them.

Here is a video that I made from all our pictures and the music is a Buddhist medetation song from a CD we bought at the "Seongjusa Temple Gift Shop". They have to make money somewhere since it's free to visit their temple.
Seongjusa Temple Video