나주시문화관광

Owner : Simhyangsa Scale : Height 132㎝ Number : Treasure No. 1544 Era : Koryo Dynasty Material : 건칠불 Designated date : 39519 Simhyangsa is a Buddhist temple with a cozy atmosphere situated on the foothills of Geumseongsan Mountain. Once you have a tour of the temple, you’ll instantly realize that it is a repository of cultural assets, one of which is the Buddha statue enshrined in the Daeungjeon Hall. This beautiful Buddha statue was made using clay, instead of wood or gilt bronze, and covered with hemp cloth before being coated with lacquer (otchil) and liquid gold. This is referred to as the “geonchil” style. The Geonchil Seated Amitabha Buddha at Simhyangsa Temple has a graceful appearance, and it is considered to have the most exceptional formative completeness out of all the geonchil statues found in Naju including at Bulhoesa and Jungnimsa temples. On top of that, it is the earliest form of a geonchil statue that is known today. It had originally been enshrined at Nahanjeon at Bulhoesa, but it had illegally been excavated and transferred here. It is speculated that a large number of geonchil Buddha statues have been produced between the late Goryeo period and the early Joseon period; however, because there are not many extant geonchil statues, the Geonchil Seated Amitabha Buddha at Simhyangsa Temple is considered a highly important piece of geonchil statue, along with the Vairocana statue at Bulhoesa. It was designated as Jeollanam-do Tangible Cultural Heritage No. 99 on October 15, 1982, and in recognition of its high value, it was promoted to Treasure No. 1544 on March 12, 2008.