Okcheonam Temple (Jinan)

About this place

Okcheonam Temple is a subsidiary temple of Geumsansa Temple, the head temple of the 17th district of the Jogye Order. The valley at the temple entrance has always had clear, clean water flowing through it, known as Okryucheon or Okpokdong, and the temple name appears to derive from this. Originally a large temple in Yongdam County, it seems to have been quite large, but after the Japanese colonial period the temple was relocated when the Yongdam Dam was built, and is now at its current location. The temple was founded in 892 by Zen Master Jeonghyeon. It was restored in 1798 by Kim Yi-rye, the magistrate of old Yongdam County, and again repaired by Magistrate Kim U-sik in 1898. In 1928, the Avalokitesvara statue was repaired and an Hermit Painting was enshrined; from 1929 through 1929 the Seven Stars Painting, Divine Assembly Painting, and Amitabha Western Paradise Painting were created; and in 1980 a Hall of Three Sages was newly built. Buddhist relics at Okcheonam all date from 1919 or later.