Songgwangsa Temple

Korean Buddhism names three temples for the three jewels - Tongdosa for the Buddha, Haeinsa for the teaching, and Songgwangsa for the sangha, the community - and Songgwangsa holds that place because sixteen national masters trained here in the Goryeo period, more than anywhere else. It is a large working monastery of the Jogye order, UNESCO-listed since 2018, and it functions as a meditation training centre, which is felt on the ground: a substantial part of the compound is closed, monks are working, and the tone is businesslike rather than touristic. Buildings run up a slope behind a covered bridge and gate pavilion over the stream. Among the objects kept here are a wooden kitchen trough carved from a single trunk, portraits of the sixteen masters, and Goryeo documents. Songgwangsa also ran the first sustained programme for foreign monastics in Korea, and Western practitioners have trained here since the 1970s.

What you actually see

• The bridge and gate pavilion - the covered entry over the stream.
• The stacked compound - halls climbing the slope behind.
• The masters' portrait hall - the sixteen national teachers.
• The wooden trough - carved from a single trunk, in the kitchen area.

When to go

April to June and October. Weekday mornings are best. Retreat seasons close more of the site than usual - check before travelling far.

Honest expectations

Large areas are off limits to visitors and photography is restricted in places. Ticketed, with a walk from the gate. This is a training monastery first and a monument second.

Nearby

Seonamsa is over Jogyesan; Suncheon Bay and Naganeupseong are toward the coast.