Mahayonsa
Buddhist temple in North Korea
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mahayonsa (Korean: 마하연사; Hanja: 摩訶衍寺)[1] was a Korean Buddhist temple located at Naegeumgang-ri, Kumgang-gun, Kangwon-do, North Korea. This structure was located at an altitude of 846m, the highest point of the Manpok-dong Valley of Mount Geumgang and was a branch hermitage of the Yujomsa temple.[2]
Paintings (Joseon period)
Mahayeon was depicted by several Korean painters. Among them:
- Kim Hong-do <마하연 (摩訶衍)> as #43 in the 《Geumgang Four Counties Album 금강사군첩(金剛四郡帖)》, 1788
- Kim Ha-jong, <마하연 (摩訶衍)> as #17 of the 《Haesando Album》, 1815
Japanese colonial period
The #12 (1932) of the "Joseon historical site walk" contains several views of each temple around Mt. Geumgang, Mahayeon among them.[3] Moreover, the area became a touristic destination, leading to the publication of illustrated guides.[4] These pictures taken during the Japanese colonial period are precious since many of these buildings are no longer extant.
Destruction
During the Korean war, the Bombing of North Korea dropped a total of 635,000 tons of bombs, including 32,557 tons of napalm, on Korea.[5] "Every installation, facility, and village in North Korea [became] a military and tactical target", and the orders given to the Fifth Air Force and Bomber Command was to "destroy every means of communications and every installation, factory, city, and village".[6] As a result, this hermitage has been destroyed by the US bombings of the area.[2]