Ssanggyesa Temple, South Gyeongsang Province

Sanshin-gak, a special shrine for non-Buddhist deities above and behind the Main Halls at the top of Ssanggyesa. Sanshin, Korea’s native “Mountain Spirit”, was long worshipped as a Shamanic demigod. As Buddhism, Daoism & Neo-Confucianism entered into Korea from China, their icons melded with native Shamanism and Sanshin became the central figure of all Korean religious culture, the most common deity and nearly universally revered.