Iljumun (gate)

Buseoksa Temple
Yeongju, Korea

Buseoksa is introduced by its first gate. Elaborate bracketing, some from much earlier times, is a prominent feature of the temple (later pages). The photo here looks back from beyond the gate to the approach path.

Buseoksa was founded by the Venerable monk Uisang in 676 AD, the same year in which Silla completed the unification of Korea by driving the Tang forces out of the country. The temple belongs to the Huayan (Hwaeom, in Korean) school of Buddhism, although its layout is more Pure Land than Avatamsaka (for example, there is no Vairocana hall).

Buseoksa is a mountain temple, built on three levels, that takes full advantage of the site's spectacular feng shui to evoke a representation of Amitabha Buddha's Western Paradise.