Unramsa (Uiseong)

About this place

※ Please note before visiting: due to a wildfire in March 2025, part of the buildings, including Bogwangjeon Hall, were completely destroyed. Unramsa is a temple affiliated with Gounsa, the head temple of the 16th diocese of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism. It was founded by the Great Master Uisang during the reign of King Sinmun, the 31st ruler of Silla. There are two theories about the temple's name, Unram ('cloud haze'): one holds that it derives from the way the heat haze rises like clouds in the deep valleys amid the folded peaks of Mount Cheondeungsan, and the other that the temple was 'built of cloud and wind.' The detailed history after its founding is unknown due to a lack of records, but according to the wooden seated Amitabha Buddha in Bogwangjeon Hall and the relics found inside it, the temple was repaired in 1602 (35th year of King Seonjo) and 1704 (30th year of King Sukjong). A Ksitigarbha taenghwa (Buddhist scroll painting) was made in 1741 (17th year of King Yeongjo), a banja (temple gong) in 1774, and a Mountain Spirit taenghwa in 1827 (27th year of King Sunjo), while Bogwangjeon Hall was rebuilt in 1999. Within the temple grounds, centered on a three-story stone pagoda and Bogwangjeon Hall, stand Sanwanggak, Sigamdang, Jodang, Gaekdang and other buildings. Inside Bogwangjeon Hall is a gilt-bronze triad of seated Buddhas—the principal Buddha Amitabha, Avalokitesvara (Gwanseeum-bosal) on the left, and Mahasthamaprapta (Daeseji-bosal) on the right—with the attendant bodhisattvas on either side depicted wearing floral crowns. The three-story stone pagoda is presumed to date from the late Silla to early Goryeo period and stands 3.39 m tall. Inside Sanwanggak, next to Bogwangjeon Hall, there was a Mountain Spirit taenghwa made in 1827, but as it had aged, a new one was made and enshrined in 1977. In Samseonggak are enshrined recently made taenghwa of the Seven Stars, the Mountain Spirit, and the Lone Saint (Dokseong). And a banja made in 1774 (50th year of King Yeongjo) hangs beneath the eaves of the monks' quarters.