Geumgangmun Gate, the Guardian’s Gate of Beopjusa Temple

There is another entrance gate here called Geumgangmun Gate which means the Guardian's Gate. It is generally regarded as the main entrance to Beopjusa Temple as the wall enclosing the temple starts here. Why did they had to put up two or more gates? Was there any specific reason for Korean temples to adopt such security measures? Maybe. But what they really wanted to protect the temple from with these gates was not any tangible threat such as a thief or an intruder but rather intangible evil forces.

Then, what's the difference between the Iljumun Gate, One Pillar Gate you saw earlier and this Guardian’s Gate? Like most other buildings, this gate has four pillars supporting the four corners of the roof. In this gate, four Buddhist figures are enshrined. The first two are Diamond Warriors whose main role is to protect the Buddhist Law from evil. The other two are Buddhist saints, one riding a lion and the other an elephant. They symbolize wisdom and physical power, respectively.

Now, moving to the next building, there is another gate building waiting for you to pass through. As you may have noticed by now, you can access to the main hall only after passing through several gateways. The symbolism behind such a layout is that you need to empty your mind more and more as you pass through the gates one by one and get ever closer to Buddha.