Around Chilbulsa Temple

Chilbulsa Temple

Chilbulsa Temple, situated about 800m above sea level on Jirisan Mountain's Banyabong Peak, is named Chilbulsa (Seven Buddhas Temple) because it is said that the seven princes of King Suro, the founder of the Gaya Confederacy (which was centered in the Gimhae region along the Nakdong River basin during the early Three Kingdoms period and is the progenitor of today's Gimhae Kim clan), came here, practiced asceticism, and all achieved enlightenment. Chilbulsa Temple, which grew into a central temple of Gaya Buddhism, became even more famous about 1,100 years ago during the reign of King Hyogong of Silla when the Aja-bang (亞字房) ondol room, which was said to retain heat for 100 days after a single heating, was built. However, it was destroyed during wartime and rebuilt in 1978 by Grand Seon Master Jewoldang Tonggwang.