Treasure Designated Gayulru and Yeonsujeon Unrecognizable… Choe Chi-won Literature Center Completely Burned Down
Early in the morning, devotees rushed to the temple, tears in their eyes… Struggling with restoration and cleanup of the precincts.
The abbot of Gounsa explains the fire situation. (Uiseong=Yonhap News) Reporter Lee Joo-hyung – On the morning of the 26th, Venerable Deung-woon, the head monk of Gounsa, the main temple of the 16th district of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism, explains the situation at the temple grounds in Uiseong County, North Gyeongsang Province, where the wildfire damage occurred to the General Secretary of the Jogye Order, Venerable Jinwoo, and other stakeholders. The Gayulru and Yeonsujeon, designated as state cultural heritage treasures, were completely burned down by the wildfire the day before.
(Uiseong=Yonhap News) Reporter Lee Joo-hyung – “The serene pavilion looks like a war zone now. What should we do?” said Kim Yoon-hee (76), a Buddhist practitioner she encountered at Gounsa early on the morning of the 26th. She couldn’t hide her sorrow as she looked at the remains of Gayulru, embracing fellow devotees as tears streamed down.
Escaping the wildfire, Kim fled her home the day before and struggled to sleep at a nearby elementary school shelter, before heading to the temple first thing in the morning.
By the morning, Gounsa, which was quickly engulfed by flames, was still filled with acrid smoke, and the charred remains of the pavilion were scattered around the precincts.
Among the remnants of Gayulru and Yeonsujeon, which were so severely collapsed that their original forms were unrecognizable, lay intact temple bells and roof tiles.
Modern buildings like Daeungjeon, which boasts a long history, barely retained their original form, but the tension of the situation was evidenced by statues still wrapped tightly in flame-retardant blankets.
Icheonho (62), a cultural commentator for Gounsa, who was scheduled to welcome 200 visitors that day, stared blankly at the office, now reduced to ash and smoke, unable to hide his emptiness.
He said, “We had three helicopters spraying water since 11 am yesterday, and we thoroughly conducted fire prevention within the temple, yet this happened.” He pointed to the sky, “From 3:40 pm, stones the size of fists were flying around, and the wind was so strong that the bodhisattvas running out of the temple could hardly walk.”
He added tearfully, “Fortunately, other cultural properties, including Myeongbujeon, Nahanjeon, Gobuljeon, and Cheolbi are unharmed.”
Throughout the morning prayers continued at Gounsa, with a steady stream of devotees and local residents visiting, many of whom expressed gratitude that there were no casualties.
One devotee, who brought cleaning tools to clean the temple, said, “The fire was so intense I was worried everything would burn down. It’s a miracle it wasn’t worse.”
The wildfire that swept through Northern Gyeongsang Province inflicted considerable damage on various treasures of Gounsa, a thousand-year-old temple said to have been founded by Uisang Daisa of the Unified Silla period.
According to the Jogye Order on the 26th, Gounsa, the main temple of the 16th district of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism, suffered extensive damage from a wildfire that struck the day before.
In particular, Gayulru and Yeonsujeon, designated as state cultural heritage treasures, were completely destroyed.
The Choe Chi-won Literature Center, located at the entrance of Gounsa, was also reduced to just its skeletal frame in the blaze.
Visiting Gounsa at dawn, the General Secretary of the Jogye Order, Venerable Jinwoo, expressed condolences over the loss of lives to the wildfire, stating, “Seeing the remnants makes it clear how strong the fire was. I am grateful to the firefighters and all involved in the response.”
Gayulru, which was entirely consumed by the wildfire, is a pavilion-style building spanning a valley that was upgraded to a treasure last year.
Yeonsujeon, designated as a treasure before Gayulru, is also known for its deep connection with the Joseon royal family.
“The area where the ‘Uiseong Gounsa Seokjo Yeorae Jwa Sang’ was located couldn’t escape the wildfire either, but the statue was saved by monks who managed to move it out the day before.”
Venerable Deung-woon, the abbot of Gounsa, reminisced, “Even after 4 pm yesterday, I stayed at the temple trying to ensure the safety of people and save as much of the cultural heritage as possible, but the fire spread so rapidly that even the firefighters had to urgently take refuge in an external building restroom.”
Gounsa, founded by Uisang Daisa in the first year of King Sinmun of Silla (681 AD), is one of the major temples representing Gyeongbuk. It is also known for its lack of a ‘Sahachon,’ a commercial village with restaurants and other facilities, under traditional temples.
Due to the wildfire, an evacuation order was issued for Dancheon-myeon, Uiseong, where Gounsa is located, at 3:20 pm the previous day.
Just before the flames hit, twenty people, including five or six monks moving artifacts out of the temple, left Gounsa with the last statue starting around 3:50 pm.