Miamsa Temple (Buyeo)

About this place

Miamsa is a temple belonging to the Daegak Order of Korean Buddhism, and its name derives from the 'Rice Rock' (Ssal-bawi) in its precinct — a cliff face from which, according to legend, rice used to emerge. Some claim it was founded in 602 by the monk Gwanreuk, though this has not been confirmed. Miamsa burned down in fires several times and was rebuilt in 1967. In 1975 a main hall of three bays wide and two bays deep and monks' quarters were rebuilt in front of the Rice Rock. The temple began to take on its current scale after 1996 when it changed its denomination to the Daegak Order and built a lecture-cum-main hall, two monks' buildings, and a Dragon King Hall in 1997. At the temple entrance, 250 golden Buddha statues stand along the path, followed by a reliquary stupa of the Buddha's sarira. Entering the precinct, a majestic reclining Buddha immediately catches the eye, inside which 20,000 Buddha statues are enshrined. Above the reclining Buddha are a small hermitage-like Dragon King Hall, a Manjushri child bodhisattva statue in a pond, and a large Dharma stone inscription. Next to the reclining Buddha stands the sheer cliff known as the Jeodong-ri Rice Rock of Buyeo, and in front of it a Gwaneum Hall was refurbished from the original mountain-deity shrine.