Bodeoksa Temple (Yesan)

About this place

Bodeoksa Temple in Yesan is connected to the story of Heungseon Daewongun. At the site of the current Namyeon-gun Tomb there was originally a temple called Gayasa. According to feng shui lore, the central tower site of Gayasa was said to be a 'second-generation heaven site' (二代天子地) — a propitious location from which two generations of kings would emerge. Seduced by this feng shui prediction, the Daewongun had two monks from Magoksa burn Gayasa to the ground and demolished a golden pagoda built during the Goryeo period by the monk Naong, then relocated his father's tomb from Namsong-jeong in Yeoncheon, Gyeonggi Province. Burdened with guilt for burning Gayasa, the Daewongun — after his son became the 26th king of Joseon, Gojong — founded a new temple in 1871 (8th year of Gojong) on the southern slope of Seoungssan Mountain to the east of the burned Gayasa site. This temple was named Bodeoksa ('Temple of Gratitude to the Buddha' as a form of atonement). Bodeoksa has Bodeoksa Geungnakjeon (Chungcheongnam-do Tangible Cultural Heritage) and Bodeoksa Seokdeung (Chungcheongnam-do Cultural Heritage Material). The Geungnakjeon is a five-bay front, two-bay side building with a flat rafter, double-bracket gable roof. Around the Geungnakjeon are a two-story Seobyeoldang to the left, the abbot's room at the front, Dongbyeoldang to the right, and a pond further to the right. The stone lantern is an octagonal granite lantern 1.2 meters tall with Four Heavenly Kings carved on alternating faces and open windows on the others.