Buddhist temples and hermitages are all over Korean cities and the countryside, big and small, modest and extravagant, easy to get to and remote. Everyone has their favourites, and here are my must-see ones! There are very well known temples I haven’t listed simply because there’s already so much information out there, and I’ve included an honourable mentions list for that purpose. This is post is also an expanding work in progress.
- Hyangilam Temple 향일암
- Cheongryeonam Temple Hermitage 청련암
- Guinsa Temple 구인사
- Guknyeongsa Temple 국녕서 (or Gugnyeongsa)
- Honourable mentions
Hyangilam temple (향일암) – Yeosu
Hyangilam temple (향일암) is on Dolsaneup (돌산읍) next to Yeosu in the south of Korea. I was very taken with this place of trees, rocks, and its many hidden pathways. There’s a steep walk to the entrance area, with lots of cafes and restaurants; you can tell this would be massively busy on the weekends! The actual temple starts with steps up through a forest. Then it’s a left turn along a path featuring see-no, hear-no, speak-no evil Buddha statues. I posted about this place in April 2021.
Next, we get into first section of rocky passages! There are boulders and cracks and steps through crannies to navigate, and it’s all fantastic. I feel like Indiana Jones!
Then we got to the first section of temple buildings. They are on a terrace overlooking the sea. It seems like there’s a communal seating area, perhaps where the monks eat.
After this, it’s up through more rocky passage ways and caves! These a formed by massive boulders overlapping each other creating intricate pathways up to more temple buildings.
This leads to the last set of temple buildings. This area has lots of gold coloured leaf-shaped ‘offerings'(?) with messages or prayers written on them. I think this is a way the temple takes donations, similar to having prayers written in roof tiles and under lanterns.
To exit you go back through the last set of passage ways, then take a different route through a last set of passage ways through the rocks.
Finally, the exit down a road to the restaurants. We found a cafe with a terrace and had some jujube tea and waffles. The place was Green Na Rae (그린나래까페).
| Location | Below Yeosu on Geomosan 1 Hyangiram-ro, Dolsan-eup, Yeosu-si, Jeollanam-do 전라남도 여수시 돌산읍 향일암로 1 |
| Ease of access | Car, busses from Yeosu. Hilly walking required, steps |
| Fee | No |
| Features | Forests, long paths, ocean view terrace, paths through rocks and caves |
| Nearby facilities | Restauran, tea and coffee cafes, souvenir stores, parking |
Location of Hyangilam temple (향일암)
Cheongryeonam hermitage (청련암) – Busan
Next to Beomeosa Temple (범어사) at the start of the Geumjeongsan hike, is Cheongryeonam hermitage (청련암). Go after you look at the main temple. The hermitage has lots of interesting statues in a central square area; a woman seemed to be circling it and praying each time around. There were a few plastic water bottles at some of the statues; my initial thought was “Rubbish? Here?” but then I thought that they must be offerings!
| Location | North part of Busan on east side of Geumjeongsan mountain 546 Cheongnyong-dong, Geumjeong-gu, Busan 부산광역시 금정구 청룡동 546 |
| Ease of access | Subway and busses from Busan. |
| Fee | No |
| Features | Lots of interesting statues |
| Nearby facilities |
Location of Cheongryeonam Temple/Hermitage
Guinsa (구인사) – Danyang
I drove to Guinsa Temple (구인사) from Danyang. Once at the temple complex and parked, you can take a shuttle bus to the temple for a small fee. The ride was about five minutes. At the entrance, I started to understand the huge scale of this place. It was a single road, but I could see buses and vans dropping off people of all ages with cases; this was some kind of Buddhist retreat and temple stay complex, and it turned out to be huge!
Basically, I walked up the left side past and through lots of buildings and walkways, marvelling at the size. I could also see the industrial and logistical nature of a complex that can house about 10,000 monks and feed 20,000 at one time!
At the end and top, there’s a huge plaza with what I’d guess is the main prayer hall. Looking back, you see a view down the valley you’ve just walked up. In the current slightly damp weather, it looked pretty epic.
It probably took about 90 minutes looking around and talking photos. I walked back down along the left side, again past lots of walkways, nooks and crannies. I got a glimpse into the kitchen and dining area; I’d obviously just missed the lunch setting. I hear that if you get to some temples at the right time, you’ll be served a free lunch.
| Location | Near Danyang 73 Guinsa-gil, Yeongchun-myeon, Danyang-gun, Chungcheongbuk-do 충청북도 단양군 영춘면 구인사길 73 |
| Ease of access | Car. Hills and steps, all well paved |
| Fee | Fee for shuttlebus |
| Features | MASSIVE temple complex, retreat, school. Just impressive scale and beautiful mountain |
| Nearby facilities | Restaurants in the town by the entrance |
Location of Guinsa Temple
Guknyeongsa Temple 국녕서 (or Gungyeongsa) – Bukhansan, Seoul
It’s not a massive temple, but well situated and has a great golden buddha statues with interesting face sculptures around it and hundreds of smaller golden buddhas surrounding. Getting there requires a lot of hiking! Starting at the Fortress Entrance of Bukhansan National Park, you follow the main trails eastward; there’s a trail with the river on your left (very pleasant), and a trail which is a windy road. About a kilometre in, there’s a rest area with some decking, toilets and vending machines. You’ll go over a bridge: turn RIGHT after that bridge and the river will be on your right. Continue for about 700 metres until you cross another bridge. A few metres after crossing, look out for a small turning on the right that goes up; this is the mountain trail leading up to Guknyeongsa Temple. So far you’ll have done about 1.6km and there’s about another 1km uphill to go.
Video
| Location | Accessible from Bukhansan Fortress Entrance and a long hike 416-8 Bukhan-dong, Deogyang-gu, Goyang-si, Gyeonggi-do 경기도 고양시 덕양구 북한동 416-8 |
| Ease of access | A hike from the Bukhansan National Park, Fortress Entrance on the west side of the park. Hills and steps, all well paved |
| Fee | None |
| Features | MASSIVE buddha golden statue surrounded by hundreds of tiny buddha statues. Views of the mountains. Also the start or end to good but strenuous hike over Uisang Bong! |
| Nearby facilities | Restaurants, cafes, hiking gear stores in the park entrance area. |
Location of Guknyeongsa Temple
Extremely honourable mentions
This is an impossible list so I’ve only added the less obvious temples. However, I’ll list the posts I made about some other very famous temples I’ve been to in Korea.