Dr. Scott and the Fun-Sized Temples

Dr. Scott
Jun 26, 2020
6 min read

Since I was in the neighborhood, I visited two smaller temples on Mt Baekyang and re-invigorated my interest in Korean history.

When I first started exploring Korea in 2019, I was particularly interested in visiting Buddhist temples. They are something I had no prior exposure to in America and are also an integral part of Korean history. Just as important, I thought I would enjoy taking pictures of elaborate stone carvings and gold-plated Buddha statues. After exploring two of Busan's most famous Temples, Seokbulsa and Headong Yonggungsa, I realized that a tranquil atmosphere and interesting origin story are much more enjoyable than a 20-foot Buddha or multi-story building covered in pastel colors. This was further emphasized when I visited the other temples on Mt. Baekyang.

The major temple Samgwangsa (explained elsewhere on the site) was incredibly large and filled with bright-colored buildings and Buddha statues. However, I found the blending of modern aesthetic and history to be slightly off-putting. Since I was in the area, I decided to visit the less-publicized and much smaller temples Seonamsa and Cheonansa. As I continued to explore smaller and smaller shrines, I enjoyed the experience more and more.

Background

Before leaving for Busan, I tried to research the history of all three temples on Mt. Baekyang. As expected, Samgwangsa had a lot of information from both travel blogs and history websites. However, I found virtually nothing about Seonamsa or Cheonansa. Usually, this is indicative of a community temple that is not interested in tourists. If the temples would have been more than 30-minutes away from Samgwangsa, I probably would have cut my loses and went shopping. Luckily, I decided the short bus rides and walks were worth the effort.

The Journey to Seonamsa

Since the Mt Baekyang trails were closed due to COVID19, I took several city buses from Samgwangsa to the nearest community by Seonamsa. From the bus stop, I had about a 500 meter walk uphill to reach the front gate. The most direct route took me past a middle and elementary school, which was a weird experience for visiting a temple. Once the schools were just out-of-sight, the ambient noise changed from car horns to a flowing stream. The further I traveled, the more and more the journey felt like visiting my favorites Seokbulsa and Beomeosa, just with a more convenient paved road. After 200 meters of a very step incline, I reached the temple stairway.

Seonamsa stairway entrance

Temple Grounds, Lower Level

As I ascended the staircase, I started hearing a familiar Buddhist "chant". Almost every temple I've visited play some sort of prayer chant over loudspeakers to create an atmosphere for tourists. However, this chant had noticeable differences in the rhythm of the wooden block instrument and imperfect vocal inflections. This all made sense as I entered the temple and saw for the first time an actual monk leading a prayer group. The five minutes I spent watching people go through their Buddhist prayer ritual were as enjoyable as exploring the first level of Samgwangsa.

Main Hall of Seonamsa

The first level of Seonamsa contained some of the greatest hits of Buddhist Temples. To the left of the Main Hall were several other large shrines and a bell tower. Unfortunately, there was no additional information provided for each shrine, so please just enjoy the following pictures.

Shrine directly to the left of Main Hall of Seonamsa

Outer shrine on first level of Seonamsa

Bell tower of Seonamsa Temple

Temple Grounds, Second Level

Directly behind one of the larger halls was a paved trail leading to one of the most interesting looking statues I've ever seen. It was nestled directly in front of a small waterfall and semi-enclosed cliffside, making for a great panorama view. Multiple people were waiting to give tribute to the statue, so there must be an interesting story behind it.

To the right of this statue, and directly behind one of the major halls, was a steep stone staircase leading to the true second level of the temple grounds. On this level, there was one additional large hall, two small shrines, and a recovered three-story stone pagoda. Only the stone pagoda had an accompanying plaque explaining its history and importance. Nevertheless, here are some pictures of the unoccupied shrines.

I think this is the past, present, and future Buddhas

Three-story stone pagoda from Goryeo Dynasty

Temple Grounds, Third Level and Satellite Area

In-between two of the shrines was a smaller, more broken stairway leading to one additional shrine. The actual space was only about ten feet by ten feet, with most of the space taken up by the shrine building. The shrine itself was simply another painting on an alter. Since there was so little space, I couldn't get a decent photo of anything.

Just to be a completionist, I walked down each road leading to the side/handicapped entrances of the temple. There were plenty of mountain trails on both sides, but they were heading the opposite direction of Samgwangsa into unknown territory. I was able to find a small grave site near some food vendor stands and a parking lot (see below), but nothing worth investigating further.

Now more satisfied with my Saturday outing, I sat down on a picnic table in front of the bell tower and started organizing the photos on my phone. Usually this takes me about thirty minutes, and helps me contextualize the history or culture I just experienced. For some reason, this was not keeping my attention and I wanted to continue taking pictures.

Days before leaving for Busan, I read a travel blog describing someone's visit to Samgwangsa, Seonamsa, and a much smaller temple Cheonansa. He waxed poetic about Seonamsa and Cheonansa having beautiful nature trails and inspiring him to self-meditate during his visit. Given that I still had about two hours before my dinner plans, I decided to recreate his trip and visit the mini temple.

Cheonansa, the Journey

Leaving Seonamsa, I put in my headphones and started listening to a podcast. This is probably the worst thing you can do when visiting an outdoor historical site, but I was anxious for some reason and most of the trip was simply backtracking. Once I passed the schools, I turned the opposite directions towards a dead-end. At the very end, there was a trail going uphill and a trail going downhill. I could hear a recording of the ubiquitous Buddhist prayer chant downhill, so I went with the easier route.

At the very entrance of this trail I met what I like to call the "war veteran Korean". This is a Korean who is so old they might have been alive during the Korean War, and when they see an American (ie. me) they immediately walk over and introduce themselves. Sometimes I find this annoying, but today it put me in a good mood and I answered all the usual five questions.

Cheonansa, the Experience

After walking for maybe one minute I saw Cheonansa Temple. The whole grounds was maybe half a football field in area, and only consisted of a modern dormitory, a Main Hall, and two shrines on a second level. Despite the size, I was impressed by the personal charm of each section. The path to the statue of Gwanseeum-bosal, the Bodhisattva of Compassion, was filled with small "Buddhist toy displays" as shown below.

One of many displays near the Gwanseeum-bosal statue

The main hall was pretty cookie-cutter, but the painted panels were really unique and actually caused me to stop and take pictures (see below). The Gwanseeum-bosal statue was also perfectly nestled in front of a small waterfall, making for a fantastic picture.

Painted panels of the Main Hall

Gwanseeum-bosal statue

The two shrines consisted of a painting on an alter with paper lantern displays on the ceiling. Nothing particularly caught my attention, but I was appreciative of being able to frame these pictures with literally no one else around. After about thirty minutes of taking pictures, I found a nice spot just outside the temple grounds and returned to my phone to organize all of the new pictures. Unlike before, I was very engaged comparing the quant, niche displays of Seonamsa and Cheonansa to the tourist attractions of Samgwangsa. There were positives to both types of images, and juxtaposed to each other told an interesting story about my trip.

The Future

If I ever return to Samgwangsa for the celebration of Buddha's birthday, I will definitely return to either temple to see their decorations too. I imagine the differences in philosophy and taste will be even more on display during the celebration.

Check out more pictures on the main pages of the website. Follow ag4abroad on Instagram, Steller, and Flickr for updates.