A Templestay program you’ll never forget… The temple Heungguksa is quietly perched in the western foothills of Moaksan. Like the mountain Gyeryongsan, Moaksan, the so-called “Mother Mountain”, is the cradle of many different indigenous religions. The mountain’s shape looks like a mother cradling her baby, just as Moaksan embraces Geumsansa. During the Baekjae reign of King Beop (599 C.E.), the temple was built to pray for the king’s prosperity and good fortune. Later during the reign of Shilla King Hyegong (766 C.E.), the Precepts Master Ven. Jinpyo (718-752 C.E.) enlarged the temple and established it as the Head Temple for the worship of Maitreya. Maitreya is the future Buddha, who will appear countless eons from now, but to his faithful followers he is a compassionate Buddha who is always with them. Wherever you step in Geumsansa there are valuable relics and cultural assets. But among them all, without a doubt the most eye-catching is the three storey Mireukjeon (Maitreya Hall), the only one in Korea. If you look at the structure from the outside, it seems like a three storey building, but when seen from the interior, it’s completely open all the way to the high ceiling. Inside this enormous hall, there’s a triad of statues, Maitreya in the middle, with a height of 11.82 m, and two Bodhisattvas on either side with a height of 8.79 m each.