As arriving at Sshang Gyeo Sa temple, what attracted my attention was the arrangement of the gates.
As I’ve posted several times before, there are lots of gates meaning the order or the structure of Buddhist paradise.
Unlike other temples, the gates in this temple were arranged in a row with very close distances.
The first thing welcomed me was the stone bridge in front of the one pillar gate.
I’d like interpret the bridge as the symbol of the border between this and that world.
The one pillar gate seemed not special with that of other temples.
But the style of the roof was very complex and magnificent to others.
The second gate after the one pillar gate was Geum Gang Gate which was built to protect Buddha.
Sometimes, this Geum Gang (Diamond) warriors was meat as the personal body guard for Buddha.
Interesting was the Geum Gang warriors in Sshang Gyeo Sa temple was very similar to that of Ma Gok Sa and Wha Eom Sa temple.
When stopping by Wha Eom Sa temple, I heard that the very famous monk took a charge of rebuilding several temples which had been destroyed during Japanese Invasion 1592-1597.
In this respect, Sshang Gyeo Sa must’ve been rebuilt by him.
The similarity of Geum Gang wooden statues might be explained in this context.
The ceiling of the Geum Gang gate was so beautiful.
The patterns made by the materials were so impressive.
One of the most amazing thing in Korean traditional Architecture is the decoration and the ornament of the traditional building was the result of very practical use.
The last gage was the 4 Heaven Kings gate.
The 4 heaven Kings gate was so similar to the Geum Gang gate.
The arrangement of those gates was one of interesting characteristics in this temple.