KOREA
featuring
PUKHANSAN - and the Doseon-sa Temple
Page initiated: 2021-11-11
Page updated and finished: 2021-11-12
The Korean Capital, - Seoul -, is one of the few big cities in the world who has the good fortune of being placed right beside a truly magnificent nature area, - Pukhansan National Park.
Just a short ride with a regular city bus will take you there - - -
Rather strange that in one moment you are in the centre of one of the worlds busiest and biggest cities,- and in the next you find yourself in the middle of a wonderful wild mountain scenery with massive granite peaks,- quiet forests,- flowers, - lots of Buddhist temples and even an impressive, crumbled wall from an old mountain fortress - - -
Seoul now stretches right to the foothills of the mountains, which give the city a stunning setting which was cleverly used when the main palace, - the Kyongbokkung -, was constructed in perfect harmony with the Pukhansan.
The place has such a strong "feng shui", that it is said that during the colonial rule by Japan, - the Japanese tried to destroy this "feng shui" by ramming copper rods into the mountain in an attempt to deflect the flow of good energies from the mountains towards the palace and the city.
See following picture - - -
1996-33-041 - Kyongbokkung - the main hall of the Kyongbokkung Palace in downtown Seoul - - Pukhansan mountain behind, - and excellent "feng shui" - (Photography by Karsten Petersen)
But for now,- please enjoy some of my pictures from a climb to the top of the Paekundae,- the highest of the Pukhansan peaks - -
1996-34-018 - Pukhansan - Insubong ahead, - on the trail into Pukhansan National Park - (Photography by Karsten Petersen)
1996-34-021 - Pukhansan - a view of the massive granite structures at the foot of Insubong - (Photography by Karsten Petersen)
1996-34-025 - Pukhansan - below the top of Pakundae you can see remains of the fortress wall of Pukhansansong - (Photography by Karsten Petersen)
1996-34-932 - Pukhansan - climbing Paekundae, - the highest peak in Pukhansan National Park - (Photography by Karsten Petersen)
1996-34-033 - Pukhansan - a look down to the trail below - (Photography by Karsten Petersen)
1996-34-035 - Pukhansan - view from Paekundae towards Insubong,- the second highest peak in the park - (Photography by Karsten Petersen)
1996-34-045 - Pukhansan - heavily eroded mountain side - (Photography by Karsten Petersen)
1996-34-048 - Pukhansan - view down to remains of the fortress wall of Pukhansansong - (Photography by Karsten Petersen)
On this photo you can just see the great city of Seoul through the mist - very near the mountain - - -
1996-34-049 - Pukhansan - view from Paekundae - (Photography by Karsten Petersen)
1996-34-058 - Pukhansan - another view to the Pukhansansong fortress wall, - high up on top of the ridge behind - (Photography by Karsten Petersen)
1996-34-059 - Pukhansan - high on the ridge, - the Pukhansansong fortress wall - - take note of the two fortress gates that can be seen on this picture - (Photography by Karsten Petersen)
Another shot that really shows how close the mountain is to Seoul, - that can just be seen through the mist - - -
1996-34-063 - Pukhansan - the Korean way, - beautiful people in a beautiful country - locals obviously enjoying their trip to the top of Paekundae - (Photography by Karsten Petersen)
1996-34-068 - Pukhansan - it is April 1996, - signs of spring in the mountains - (Photography by Karsten Petersen)
The mountains in Pukhansan National Park has of course a lot of temples and hermitages scattered over the hill sides.
The first one you meet if you take the trail from Ui-dong into the park towards Insu-bong, is the Doseon-sa temple named after it's founder, - Master Doseon -, who built a temple at this site way back in year 682. So, - this temple site is really old - - -
A special detail in the temple is a 20 feet Buddha staue standing in an open enclosure behind the main hall.
Legend says, that this Buddha staue was made my Master Doseon himself, and it is believed, that praying in front of this unique statue, can cure diseases - - -
1996-34-013 - Doseon-sa Temple - on the trail from Ui-dong, - the Doseon-sa temple appears at the foot of Samgaksan mountain - (Photography by Karsten Petersen)
1996-34-015 - Doseon-sa Temple - kimche jars lined up behind the temple - (Photography by Karsten Petersen)
1996-34-014 - Doseon-sa temple - the court yard with the old and famous Doseon-sa Buddha statue - (Unfortunately only his body is seen on this picture, - but I do not have a better picture!) (Photography by Karsten Petersen)
1996-34-016 - Doseon-sa Temple - detail of the bell tower - Wow - some "dan chung" painting here - (Photography by Karsten Petersen)