Jeonghyesa Temple (Cheongyang)

About this place

Jeonghyesa Temple is located on the southern slope of Chilgapsan Mountain, and is said to have been founded by the National Monk Hyejo in the 3rd year of Queen Munseong of Silla (841). Afterward, all the halls burned down around 517 and only the triad of Buddhist statues survived. Sixteen years later, National Monk Inmyeong of Magoksa rebuilt the temple, which was repaired and reconstructed multiple times thereafter. A major fire in 1907 destroyed it again, and in 1908 the monk Wolpa rebuilt it. Today the temple contains the main Daeungjeon hall housing the three statues, and hermitages including Sanshingak, Seokguam, Jungam, and Seoam. The signboard of Jeonghyesa was written by Oh Se-chang, one of the 33 signatories of the March First Independence Declaration. The main hall stands on a stone platform, with square pillars and a hipped-and-gabled roof. The hall is 5 bays wide and 1 bay deep, with a wooden veranda at front and rear. Inside the Daeungjeon three wooden Buddha statues — Shakyamuni, Amitabha, and Medicine Buddha — are enshrined, dating from the Joseon period.