Dr. Scott and 40,000 paper lanterns
- Dr. Scott
- Jun 25, 2020
- 6 min read
I visited a temple famous for its elaborate lantern display after all of them were removed.
Background
Samgwangsa (삼광사) is a Buddhist Temple located on the side of Mt Baekyang, in the Seomyeon District of Busan, South Korea. The temple itself is dedicated to Gwanseeum-bosal, the Bodhisattva of Compassion. Built in 1983, this enormous temple combines more modern aesthetic with traditional building design. Despite its very young age compared to nearby Korean temples, Samgwangsa is one of the most important temples of the Cheontae Order of Korean Buddhism (ie. Korea's version of the Chinese Tiantai Buddhism).
Internationally, Samgwangsa is most famous for its elaborate paper lantern displays to celebrate Buddha's birthday. Every year the temple grounds are decorated with over 40,000 paper lanterns. These displays have received international recognition from news outlets such as CNN.
The Seomyeon district of Busan is considered the commercial epicenter of the city, housing many malls and outlet stores. Although the temple is located only about 15 minutes away from Seomyeon's subway center, the temple grounds feel like they are a world away. The atmosphere is similar to Seokbulsa or Beomeosa, which are significantly more secluded in the mountains.
To avoid the large crowds and get my desired pictures, I visited after Buddha's birthday. Except for the famous Deapo Pagoda and main hall, I virtually had the temple grounds all to myself.
The Journey
As with all of my trips to Busan, I took a train into Busan Station and found the direct route vis subway to my destination. For Samgwangsa, it was a straight shot from Busan Station to Seomyeon station on Line 1 (orange). I followed the advice of many travel blogs and took exit 9 to the street level, and waited for minibus #15 in front of Young Kwang bookstore. I imagine they get tired of having hundreds of people loiter in front of their store but never actually enter. The bus stops literally a few feet away from the temple grounds. The only downside to this is you miss the temple gateway/entrance.
Temple Grounds, First Level
Upon arriving, I was immediately blinded by the sun reflecting off the enormous paved courtyard on the first level. It became immediately clear how this temple can have 40,000 paper lantern displays and still allow people to move around. A quick look to the left and right revealed two enormous two-story buildings. The design and architecture appeared similar to other temples, but these buildings were clearly modern and most likely housed offices for "temple stays" and cultural preservation.
Office building to the left; still a nice picture
Office building and possible dormitory to the right; still a nice picture
Not having any interest in seeing a Korean cubical, my attention was immediately captured by the two story bell tower of Samgwangsa. Once again, the design was familiar for a Korean temple, but the colors were so sharp and bright that the tower almost looked like a digital image. Surprisingly, the bottom level was wide open and anyone could actually touch the bell if they wanted.
Off to an auspicious start, I made my way up the main stairway to reach the jewel of any temple, the Main Hall housing the Triad Buddhas. Specifically, the Shakyamuni Buddha (historical) is in the middle, the Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva (compassion) is to the left and the Mahasthamoprapta Bodhisattva (power) is to the right. On the far sides of the Main Hall are some amazing paintings and carvings as well.
Daeungbojeon or Main Hall
Video of the Triad Buddhas
Impressive painting/carving, to the far left of the hall. Sorry for the bad framing.
To the right of the Main Hall was, in my opinion, the defining structure of Samgwangsa; the nine-story, eight-sided Daebo Pagoda. Underneath the pagoda image is the basic information provided by a display (I corrected some of the English). Directly in front of the Daebo Pagoda are two "Stone Seated Buddha" statues, which are replicas of the 17th/18th century Late Joseon style of sculpture.
"The nine-story, eight-sided Daebo Pagoda is decorated with 53 Buddhas and contains eleven Buddha relics; six from Myanmar and one from Sri Lanka. Three relics were presented by the Dhali Lama of Tibet. The Daebo Pagoda was constructed on April 19, 1997 and is 33 meters tall and 14.55 meters wide. The supporting platform consists of three parts. The lower part has three stories and eight sides. The 12 Oriental Zodiac Animals are carved on the lowest level, the eight aspects of the Buddha's life are on the middle level, and the eight Buddhist guardians are on the top level. In the middle part of the Pagoda, carvings of the four Devas, eight Bodhisattvas, and 53 Buddhas are positioned bottom to top. The very top of the Pagoda has a mast with nine discs in the lotus shape of the Wheel of the Law (Dharma Cakra)"
One of the "Stone Seated Buddha" statues in front of the Daebo Pagoda
Surrounding the Daebo Pagoda is a wall with carvings of the Gods guarding Buddhism. A common prayer ritual is for people to walk around the pagoda, stopping in front of one of the carvings and praying, before continuing to circle the monument.
Video of the wall surrounding the Daebo Pagoda. The carvings are of the "Gods guarding Buddhism"
Temple Grounds, Second Level
Behind the main temple is a winding staircase that takes you to two additional impressive buildings. The first one is the Jijangjeon, a two story traditional Korean-style building. It's purpose is to be a gathering spot for the younger generations to learn/practice the social morals and customs of their ancestors. The first floor appeared to be a restaurant/cafeteria, with nothing interesting or out of the ordinary to see.
The second floor appeared to be dedicated to the pedagogic role of Jijangjeon. About half of this floor was an impressive shrine highlighted by a jade Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva (from Myanmar) on an alter. The Bodhisattva statue was flanked on the sides by Mudok, the King of spirit and Domyeoung, a holy man. When I entered the second floor shrine, there was only one young man reading Buddhist scripture in the corner. To be fair, if I was a Korean youth I probably wouldn't make it past the department stores and restaurants of Seomyeon.
Geuknakjeon Hall (극락전) to the right, Jijangjeon (지장전) to the right.
Second floor shrine of Jijangjeon
The building to the left of Jijangjeon was Geuknakjeon Hall. Unfortunately, I couldn't find that much information about the history of the Hall on any display. This matters because there are two grand displays that I don't fully understand. The first two floors have an elaborate pagoda made of golden balls, surrounded by small Monk action figures. I translated the only display and learned that it is called the Naese-Deukjak-Bultap and was built by the Monk Kim Mu-Won. The remaining information was hard to translate and understand. From what I gathered, this display was made to either honor the Buddha in all future actions or to help the Monk Kim Mu-Won obtain Buddha status.
Naese-Deukjak-Bultap on first floor of Geuknakjeon Hall
While searching for additional paintings or displays to photograph, I found an elevator. Next to the controls was a handwritten directory. Floors 2 - 4 had the same note, so I decided to go to floor 5. To my pleasant surprise, the floor was another shrine with four Buddha statues back-to-back. Similar to the bell tower, everything in the room appeared to be brand new and digitally printed. I'm not sure if I prefer the detail and sharpness provided by the modern temple like Samgwangsa or the magnitude of an actual 17th century temple
Buddha statues on fifth floor of Geuknakjeon Hall
Temple Grounds, the Missed Opportunities
After thoroughly investigating the second level of Samgwangsa, I searched for a mountain trail to lead me to the other side of Mt Baekyang. Since I was in Seomyeon, I decided I might as well visit the two smaller temples of the mountain roughly 2 km away. Unfortunately, every available trail was boarded up with the same message saying all trails were closed to prevent the spread of COVID19. I'm not sure how a secluded mountain trail, where you might meet two people the whole day, is more of a risk than group prayer, but I wasn't going to fight the system.
I looked around the lower level for any alternative trails, but even the self-enclosed "Heeling Gardens" (sic) was off-limits. Since I could pretend that I didn't understand the signs, I hiked up a few hundred meters and took the pictures below.
The Future
Overall, Samgwangsa was a middle-of-the-road temple experience. For anyone on a schedule, I wouldn't really bother visiting outside of Buddha's birthday. Although I was able to photograph everything I wanted, at my own pace relatively unbothered, and the atmosphere was definitely calm and serene, the modern decor of some of the buildings felt out-of-place and almost distracting. I know this critique is pretty ridiculous; imagine complaining about a church having air conditioning and not being made of brick or stone strictly for photography. However, I still felt that some of the ancillary buildings were ostentatious and didn't provide anything unique. To be fair, if all the trails were open I might have found several more sites that would have been more to my preference.
Considering that this temple gets a shoulder-shrug grade, I will only return about a week before Buddha's birthday to get personal pictures of the paper lantern display. Considering my feelings above, it'll probably feel more like grocery shopping than going to Disney land.
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