Around Geungnakam Hermitage

Geungnakam Hermitage

Geungnakam Temple is located about 2 kilometers from the Ganseong Daedaeri checkpoint towards Jinburyeong, where a signboard on the right indicates the way. From this signboard, passing through a village road and then a forest path around a mountain corner, you will find a cozy and charming temple nestled peacefully within an old pine forest, reminiscent of a mother's embrace. The former Geungnakam Temple was located 2 kilometers northwest of Geonbongsa Temple and was a place of practice for Bhikkhuni (Buddhist nuns). It was founded in Myeojeokdong in 945 and was destroyed along with Geonbongsa Temple by a forest fire in 1878, but was rebuilt the following year. Until the Japanese colonial period, it was the largest among Geonbongsa Temple and its five hermitages within the mountain, with a total of 49 bays, including one for the Sansingak (Mountain Spirit Shrine). It served as a training ground where over 50 Bhikkhuni nuns lived together, and also as a dormitory for female students who came from afar to study at Bongmyeong School. The former site is currently within the Civilian Control Line, making access impossible, and only the foundation remains about 1 kilometer beyond the northwestern ridge behind Geonbongsa Temple's Daeungjeon (main hall). In the past, there was even a road wide enough for ox carts to travel from Geonbongsa Temple to the hermitage. After liberation, as it was located north of the 38th parallel, normal religious activities became impossible, and the Bhikkhuni nuns of Geungnakam Temple scattered. Bhikkhuni Beopseon, who lived at Geungnakam Temple, built a new Geungnakam Temple in Gwangsan 3-ri, Ganseong-myeon in 1956, and then relocated it in 1962 to its current location at 280 Hambak-dong, Gyodong-ri, Ganseong-eup, becoming today's Geungnakam Temple. (Source: Goseong County Office Culture and Tourism Website)