Jeollanam-do Gwangju Unified Special City designates Wongaksa Temple’s wooden seated Buddha statue as a cultural heritage site

On the 16th, Jeonnam Gwangju Unified Special City designated the wooden seated Buddha statue and clothing relics housed at Wongaksa Temple of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism located in Dong-gu as tangible cultural heritage, and the Ksitigarbha King's Painting as cultural heritage material. revealed.

The production period of the Wongaksa Temple wooden seated Buddha statue is confirmed through a prayer text (1646, the 24th year of King Injo's reign), and is evaluated as a material that allows us to examine the formative sense and technique of the sculptor.

The 13 cases and 219 pieces of Wongaksa Temple clothing relics are confirmed to be Buddhist scriptures and dharani published from the late 15th century to the early 17th century, and are therefore of high research value in the field of Buddhist culture and local social history.

Wongaksa Temple's Ksitigarbha Kingdo, designated as a cultural heritage material, is a Buddhist painting created in 1900 (the 4th year of King Gwangmu's reign), and has artistic and local social historical value as it allows us to examine the process of creation of Buddhist paintings at the time.

Hwang In-chae, head of the Cultural Affairs Division of the Unified City, explained, “The designation of the Wongak Temple wooden seated Buddha and Ksitigarbha royal temple will be an opportunity to examine the flow of regional Buddhist culture from the Joseon Dynasty to modern times.”