Part of the trip Eric & I took yesterday included a tour of the local Buddhist temple.

(Well, a do-it-yourself-there’s-no-tour-guide-&-no-English-anywhere tour that would’ve been so much better had I known more about it while we were there.)

So what follows is the research I’ve been able to dig up on Silleuksa Temple now that we’re back home & back at work.

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The temple Silleuksa lies in the southern Gyeonggi Province of South Korea.

It’s the only river-side temple in all of South Korea & it’s also one of the smallest.

The buildings are nestled high-up in the rock face of the Namhan River…so it’s a bit of a climb in certain spots.

The temple had already been in existance for some time when it was first documented in 1376 & some estimate it was first built in the 800′s.

Like all things ancient, it’s been built, burned, re-built bigger, burned again, re-built even bigger yet again & rededicated several times over.

It’s an active temple…monks & nuns live here, worship here, hold services here.

And the first building you come to as you walk into the temple compound is the Beomjong-gak…the pavillion used to house the temple bell (beomjong) & temple drum (beopgo).

It’s intricately craved & painted roof was built without the use of a single nail.

Everything is put together like Lincoln Logs…stacked tightly together to withstand the test of time.

Every morning & every night, the monks strike the bell.

In Buddhism, the ringing bell is to help all living things attain Buddhahood and to help free them of their earthly desire.

They also beat the drum, beat a cloud-shaped gong (unpan) & wooden fishes (mokeo) which is to emit the sound of truth to all things – including aquatic life.

These four things together act to deliver the Buddha’s truth through their holy sound.

(Had I known this ahead of time, I would’ve photographed the gong & the fishes, too. But I didn’t see them – I was too busy looking at the roof.)

And I just couldn’t stop looking up at the roof…at the perfect geometrical designs…the aging wood…and all the still vibrant colors of the fading paint.

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There’s lots to go over…so I’ll be breaking it up in chunks to make it easier to read.

If you have any questions along the way, be sure to ask! I’ll do my best to answer them.

[you can read part 2 here]