Guinsa and Ondal memorial

A Week in Danyang (5)

Guinsa

Guinsa Temple is the headquarters of the Cheontae Order of Korean Buddhism. According to Wiki, it is the largest temple in Korea. Unlike other temples on the mountain, the building was built following the flow of the mountain, so it looks like there are buildings on both sides of the narrow valley. Guinsa Temple is located in Yeongchun-myeon, about 30 minutes from downtown Danyang, and it seemed to be a temple with a lot of people coming and going, with buses from Seoul to Danyang going to Guinsa Temple.

The road from downtown Danyang to Guinsa Temple is a good driving course. As you can easily see on the map, the Namhan River has several sharp curves in Danyang-gun, and as a result, driving along the riverside road formed along the natural embankment is like national highways 75 and 46 from Seoul to Chuncheon via Cheongpyeong and Gapyeong. The feeling was similar when I came. After crossing Yeongchun Bridge, you will soon reach Ondal Tourist Site, and if you pass further, you will find the Central Museum of Buddhism and a large parking lot. The price may be higher for temple vehicles or public transportation, but it seems to be customary for people with cars to get off here and take the shuttle up and then pay the parking fee.

When I saw the Central Museum of Buddhism and Cheontae, I thought, ‘This is the beginning,’ so I immediately started walking up. As soon as you start going up, the slope becomes steeper, as if you were climbing a mountain, and you can find souvenir shops and restaurants selling acorn jelly and green onion pancakes, which are common in Sahachon, which has become a tourist destination. Once you pass all of those places, the real hiking begins. You have to go up for about 20-30 minutes from the parking lot to reach the Iljumun Gate of Guinsa Temple.

Guinsa is not a review. It is said that Great Master Sangwol Wongak, the founder of the Cheontae Order in Korea, founded Guinsa Temple as a thatched-roof house in Dano in 1951, and began remodeling it into the current concrete building in 1966. Most of the buildings are made of concrete, they are connected to each other, and buildings have been built steadily. The construction of the Daejojeon Temple at the top of Guinsa Temple is said to have begun in 1992 and was completed in 2000. (Different interpretations exist here as well. The life of Sangwol described in <Sangwol Wongakdaejo Five Ways of War> dictated by the second head of the Cheontae Order and Choi Dong-sun's <White Lotus Will Bloom Everywhere> (Unjusa Publishing, 2009) They say it's very different)

Korea's Cheontae Order was founded by State Preceptor Daegak Uicheon during the Goryeo Dynasty, but it is said to have virtually disappeared due to the policy of suppressing pro-Confucianism and Buddhism during the Joseon Dynasty, and was reestablished by Great Preceptor Sangwol Wongak. Although it is connected to the Cheontae sect of the Goryeo Dynasty, it can be said that it was actually started anew by the Great Master Sangwol Wongak. Cheontae Order has the characteristics of patriotic Buddhism and popular Buddhism, and has a culture of working during the day and practicing meditation at night, so it seems to be operated similarly to a medieval monastery.

With difficulty, I made my way to the top and even reached the colloquial dictionary. Normal Buddhist buildings have a main hall and a structure that worships Buddha, but Guinsa Temple does not follow such rules. Buildings continue on both sides of the valley, and only at the end do Gwangmyeongjeon and Daejosajeon meet us from the front. While Gwangmyeongjeon is a kind of auditorium that accommodates 7,000 people at the same time for education and events, Daejojeonjeon, as its name suggests, is a place where the Sangwol Wongakdae is enshrined.

Unlike other buildings, it was made of huge wooden structures and the roof tiles were gold. I don't know much about the Cheontae Order, but was it really the Great Master's intention to enshrine the Sangwol Wongak Great Preceptor at the highest place?

In 1966, Sangwol rebuilt the Cheontae Order of Korean Buddhism, which was approved by the Ministry of Education the following year. However, it took two more years for the Cheontae Order of Korean Buddhism to be recognized as an independent order other than the Jogye Order, and it became the official Cheontae Order of Korean Buddhism only in 1969. Sangwol died in 1974, and his tomb was placed at the top of Suribong Peak, where Guinsa Temple is located. I don't know what ownership or right to use Guinsa has over the mountain, but it is certainly an unusual case.

Ondal Tourist Attractions

Guinsa Temple is a famous temple, and as the floating population increased, the area near Ondal Cave at the bottom of the mountain was developed as a tourist resource and became Ondal Tourist Site. Ondal tourist attractions include Ondal Cave, drama filming site, and Ondalsanseong Fortress, but since the drama filming site without a filming team is not a place where people lived, the overall layout and individual buildings seemed to be a bit lacking in actual completion, so I was not interested.

Ondal Cave is thought to have been named because of its close proximity to Ondalsanseong Fortress, although the cave itself has nothing to do with the legend of General Ondal. Although it is smaller than Gosu Cave, it is more interesting to explore, as there are some sections where you have to lie down. Ondal Cave, which has a different feel from Gosu Cave with its unusual vertical section, is low in height so you have to be careful with your head, but it seems worth a visit.

If you have been to Guinsa Temple, you can spend some time taking a walk on the way down, or if you have been to Gosu Cave, you can visit it with the feeling of seeing another limestone cave.

#Danyang Travel #Life in Danyang for a Week #Danyang Diary #Guinsa Temple #Ondal Tourist Attraction