▲This photo, provided by Jeonju National Museum, shows the poster. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

SEOUL, Nov. 29 (Yonhap) -- An exhition featuring various images of "Nahan," a Buddhist who has reached complete freedom through training, is meeting audiences.

Jeonju National Museum announced that it will hold a special exhibition "Arhats as Enlightened Ascetics: An Encounter between Arhats from Jeolla and Gangwon Regions" beginning Tuesday.

Nahan is Buddhists who listened to the teachings of the Buddha and practiced with all their hearts and reached the highest level where there is no pain.

It is said that even after they gained enlightenment, they postponed the entering of Nirvana, stayed with the people, and took care of everyone.

In this exhibition, Nathan statues from Gangwon and Jeolla provinces during the Goryeo and Joseon periods are displayed.

Compared to Buddha and Bodhisattva, Nahan statues have variety of expressions and postures, far from formality of orinary figures.

The statue of Obaeknahan, found at the site of Changnyeongsa Temple in Yeongwol, under its various expressions, has an comfortable appearance of a saint who has given up on.

The firmness of the Nahan statue in Seojinam in Silsangsa Temple in Namwon, Notrh Jeolla province, displays the sculptural style in the early Joseon Dynasty.

The charm of this exhibition is that visitors can enjoy various sculptural beauty of Nahan statue, which are created by different materials and different sculptural skills based on the region.

President of Jeonju National Museum, Hong Jin-geun, said, "They have finally become free after lonely training, but I hope visitors find comfort in their hearts watching Nahan, who reached out to the people again."


(This article is translated from Korean to English by Jiwon Woo.)

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