Gorimsa Temple

About this place

Gorimsa is a sub-temple of Geumsansa (head temple of the 17th district of the Jogye Order) on Bugisan Mountain in Jinan-gun. There is a tradition that in 672 (the 12th year of King Munmu of Silla), the Venerable Wonhyo performed ascetic practice on Bugisan Mountain, which provided the occasion for the founding of Gorimsa, though the exact founding date is unknown. The Venerable Wonhyo, hoping that the great work of the Three Kingdoms' unification would be smoothly achieved according to the principle of 'Hoesam-guil' (three paths returning to one), is said to have sought out places with the character for 'peace' (an, 安) in their names — such as Buan's Byeonsan and Jinan's Bugisan — for ascetic practice, and the meditation rock nearby Gorimsa is said to be the place where he sat in meditation. From the middle ages through recent times, its history is not well transmitted; it was known as Sangrimsa or Unrimsa during the Goryeo period. The name Gorimsa came about because the surrounding old trees filled the grounds and at some point the temple came to be called by this name. In modern times, the entire temple burned down in 1928 and was rebuilt: devotees carried the dismantled timber from a government building in Jinan on their backs to build the main hall. The fully destroyed temple was rebuilt as a three-bay-wide, two-bay-deep hip-and-gable roof structure; the Avalokitesvara statue enshrined in the Gwaneuimjeon hall is the only surviving relic rescued from the fire.