Bulguksa Temple at Gyeongju

As the rain decided to stay away this past Saturday, Jen and I decided to make use of my afternoon off and drive out to Gyeongju and check out Bulguksa Temple, one of the many historical sites in the area.  Construction of the temple began in 751 as a center of silla Buddhism and prayer for foreign protection for the company from foreign invasion.  The temple is a now a fairly major tourist destination and is usually very busy on weekends, however we lucked out since I think the threat of rain kept most people away this weekend.  As a result we got to see everything pretty unhindered by crowds, which was a very nice plus compared to when I came out here a few years ago.

This is the main gate to the temple.  You're not allowed up these steps anymore, but going around through a side door will get you in to the main courtyard area.  

Inside there are two pagodas, as well as monastery buildings, and a lecture hall of some sort which are still in use to this day by monks and Buddhists that come to pray at the temple.  

In one corner there are about a million little piles of stones, called stupa in Sanskrit, that faithful Buddhists (and Jen) construct in prayer.  It really is quite the sight, and they're on literally every flat surface you can find in the area designated for them.

So that was a brief tour of Bulguksa Temple.  Please come check out all of our pictures at the gallery here: http://picasaweb.google.com/dennis.blackwell/, and leave any questions or comments either there or as a comment to this blog entry.