View source for Gamsansa

{{Short description|Korean Buddhist temple}}
{{Orphan|date=August 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}
{{Infobox Korean name/auto
|hangul=^감산사지
|hanja=甘山寺址
}}
'''Gamsansa''' refers to a [[Korea]]n [[Buddhist temple]] established during the country's [[Unified Silla]] dynasty. Save for a partially reconstructed pagoda, none of the original temple structures survive. Gamsansa was located approximately 20 kilometers south of the city of [[Gyeongju]], at the time the capital of Silla, not far from the more famous Silla temple of [[Bulguksa]].

According to engravings preserved on extant artifacts excavated from the temple site as well as the 13th century Korean work [[Samguk Yusa]], Gamsan (‘sweet mountain’) Temple was established in 719 by the Silla aristocrat Kim Jiseong (金志誠; 652–?) on the site of his own estate, apparently to pray for the souls of his deceased parents and siblings as well as the future prosperity of the Silla kingdom. Two granite statues, of the [[Maitreya]] Buddha and [[Amithaba]] Buddha, were discovered during the Japanese colonial period in the early 20th century and later designated [[National treasures of South Korea|Korean National Treasures]] no. 81 and 82 respectively. The carving of the Maitreya Buddha had been commissioned by Kim and dedicated to the spirit of his father while the Amithaba was dedicated to the spirit of his mother. They are both currently held at the [[National Museum of Korea]] in Seoul. At the Gyeongju National Museum can be found 12 dancing zodiac figures carved in stone that once decorated the base of the temple's stone pagoda.

==References==
*{{in lang|ko}} [http://100.empas.com/dicsearch/pentry.html?s=K&i=238766&v=43 Brief information about ''Gamsansa''] [[empas|Empas dictionary]]
*{{in lang|ko}} [http://100.empas.com/dicsearch/pentry.html?s=B&i=110542&v=43 Brief information about ''Gamsansa''] [[Empas]]/[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]

{{Coord|35.7664625|N|129.337048|E|region:KR|format=dms|display=title}}

[[Category:719 establishments]]
[[Category:Religious buildings and structures completed in the 710s]]
[[Category:8th-century Buddhist temples]]
[[Category:Buddhist temples in Gyeongju]]
[[Category:National Treasures of South Korea]]
[[Category:Buddhist temples of the Jogye Order]]
[[Category:8th-century establishments in Korea]]


{{SouthKorea-Buddhist-temple-stub}}