Mt. Myohyang is one of the six celebrated mountains of Korea. It has the meaning that it is a singular and beautiful mountain giving off fragrance.
In the scenic Mt. Myohyang there are many historic relics including the Pohyon Temple, one of the famous temples in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
The Pohyon Temple represents the architecture of Korea in the early 11th century and it is of great artistic value. At first, it was built in 1042 and later, rebuilt several times. It was named after Buddha called Samantabhadra in Buddhism.
The Pohyon Temple has the Jogye Gate, the first gate of the temple, the Haethal Gate, the Chonwang Gate, the Manse Pavilion and the Taeung Hall along the central axis of the south and the north and big and small buildings on both sides, forming a large architectural group.
The main Taeung Hall is the largest and most gorgeous building in the Pohyon Temple.
All the architectural elements of the Taeung Hall are in good harmony and have been decorated with different kinds of patterns, flowers, birds and dragons, making the ancient building elegant.
The Manse Pavilion in front of the Taeung Hall is an attic with a big bell and two big drums hanging in it, in which monks were said to have tolled the bell in the morning and beat the drum in the evening.
There are various shapes of pagodas and monuments as well as ancient buildings in the Pohyon Temple.
Typical of them are an octagonal 13-storey pagoda, a square 9-storey pagoda and a monument with the history of the Pohyon Temple.
Preserved in the Pohyon Temple are the 80,000 Blocks of the Complete Collection of Buddhist Scriptures printed during the Koryo Dynasty, the first unified state of Korea which existed between 918 and 1392. The temple also tells a story about the patriotic struggle of the monks who contributed to repulsing the Japanese invaders.
The Pohyon Temple in Mt. Myohyang is well preserved as a precious architectural legacy.
