This Buddha statue is located in Yanzi Garden at the foot of Taihe Mountain in
Icheon-dong, north of Andong City, also known as "Yanziyuan Maitreya". It is
a stone Buddha statue on the ancient site of Yanwei Temple. Yeonweisa Temple
is a temple of Gounsa Temple of Korean Buddhism. It was built by Myungdeok in
634 (the 3rd year of Queen Seondeok) during the Silla period. It was abandoned
for a long time, but was restored in 1918.
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Public Park map.
The legend reads: 1) Standing rock-carved Budda in Icheon-dong, Andong,
2) Swallow Circle Yeonmisa, 3) Daeungjeon Hall, 4) Public park.
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Small altar with lantern in front of the Buddha.
Buddha statue seen from the public park.
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In the earliest days of Buddhism in Korea in the fourth and fifth
centuries, the Maiterya Buddha was an inspiration and widely
represented throughout the provinces.
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During the Goryeo Kingdom, these Maiterya or Mireuk Buddhas were
raised at the entrances of mountains and villages. They were made
independent of temples and were considered as spiritual landmarks
rather than spiritual centers.
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Rock-carved Standing Buddha (Maaekseobulsang).
The awe-inspiring Buddha statue stands on an ancient path staring out
over the mountains of the area at Jebiwon which was a rest place for
travelers on their way to or from the Sobaek Mountains.
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The 2.43-meter-high head of granite Buddha rests on top of a
9.95-meter-high and 7.72-meter-wide stone outcropping engraved with
the Buddha's body.
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Approaching Jebiwon Temple.
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Climbing the stairs towards the temple.
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Oven for burning sacrificial offerings.
Small oven for burning sacrificial offerings next to the top of the
stairs.
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Jebiwon Temple.
The Jebiwon Temple has been built near the statue, so the statue is also
known as Jebiwan Seokbul or the stone statue.
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The temple took five years to build and the legend has it that on the
final day of construction, one of the builders accidentally fell off
the roof and died. The worker's soul turned into a swallow and flew
away.
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The rest stop was thus named Jebiwon after this legend, since "Jebi"
means swallow in Korean.
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Mountain Spirit Shrine (Sanshin-gak).
Sanshin or Sansin are local mountain-spirits in Korean Shamanism and
folk-beliefs.
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In South Korea, most Buddhist temples and major Shamanic-shrines, and
some traditionalist villages, have a dedicated shrine called a
sanshin-gak or an altar called a sanshin-dan dedicated to the local
sanshin.
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This nature-deity is typically represented in the enshrined icons
(paintings and/or statues) as an elder male (in rare cases, mature
female) figure in royal-Confucian clothing, always accompanied by at
least one tiger and a Korean Red Pine tree.
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See more at
Mountain God - Wikipedia.
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Mountain Spirit Shrine and Buddha Temple.
Mountain Spirit Shrine (left) and Buddha Temple (right).
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Buddha guardians.
Nio are two wrathful and muscular guardians of the Buddha standing today
at the entrance of many Buddhist temples in East Asian Buddhism in the
form of frightening wrestler-like statues.
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They are dharmapala manifestations of the bodhisattva Vajrapani, the
oldest and most powerful of the Mahayana Buddhist pantheon.
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Heracles was used in Greco-Buddhist art to represent Vajrapani, the
protector of the Buddha, and his representation was then used in China
and Japan to depict the protector gods of Buddhist temples.
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See more at
Nio - Wikipedia.
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Path leading to the base of the Buddha statue.
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Buddha guardian with lantern.
Buddha guardian holding a lantern next to the base of the Buddha statue.
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Originating in China, stone lanterns spread to Japan, Korea and
Vietnam, though they are most commonly found in both China – extant in
Buddhist temples and traditional Chinese gardens – and Japan.
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The lantern's structure is meant to symbolize the five elements of
Buddhist cosmology.
- Lit lanterns were then considered an offering to Buddha.
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See more at
Stone lantern - Wikipedia.
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Buddha statue base.
Small altar and candle holder at the base of the Buddha statue.
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Buddha statue.
The Buddha statue, with its distinctive contouring, is in the style of
Goryeo (AD 918-1392) Dynasty. This style of outline on a rock indicates
that the statue dates from around 11th Century.
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There are several fascinating legends associated with the Buddha
statue.
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One local story maintains that a Japanese general during his country's
invasion of Korea in the late 16th Century, beheaded the Jebiwon
Buddha with his sword.
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Another legend is that the Jebiwon stone Buddha gazed across the
valley to a pine forest where it saw the Seongju god in the trees. The
Jebiwon Buddha told Seongju to enter people's homes to protect them
and bless them.
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See more at
Seongju faith - Wikipedia.
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See also
Source
Location
