May 18, 2012

Manbulsa Temple

Chevelle and I made a day trip to Yeongcheon to check out Manbulsa. From Dong Daegu Station, it should only be a 35 minute train ride each way. The stop is on the slow train line on the way to Gyeongju.Of course, we had serious train issues and it took about two hours each way, BUT, hopefully you will be better at the train lines than we were! 


 It is a relatively new temple, and the style is a lot more gaudy than most I have seen in Korea. The notable draw was a huge golden Buddha and golden pagodas. You can read more about the history and details at Dale's Korean Temple Adventure blog, found here: link.

From the station, we grabbed a taxi for around 15,000 won each way. The ride was quick and they knew exactly where we were headed. 


For those not living in Korea, "san" means mountain, and "sa" means temple. Therefore, Manbulsa means  Manbul Temple, and Manbulsan means Manbul Mountain. I suspect that they refer to it as Manbulsan on the signs because the temple is on the mountain of the same name. 
  


We went the weekend of Children's Day, and they were changing the thousands of red bandanas. 





So many tiny little Buddhas. 



Chevelle posing, this should show you some scale!











The giant gold Buddha is up a little hill, but nothing strenuous or requiring hiking boots.



This Buddha is huge. It reminded me of the one I saw in Songnisan National Park (link).


There were rows of these smaller - slightly less than "life-sized" - golden Buddhas all around the temple. 




The little trail.





Decorations up for Buddha's birthday possibly? It is on May 28.


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