Tongdosa Temple

Tongdosa is the first of the Three Jewel temples, the one representing the Buddha himself, because the monk Jajang brought relics and a robe here from Tang China in 646 and enshrined them in an ordination platform behind the main hall. That is why the Daeungjeon has no Buddha image inside: the wall behind the altar opens to a window onto the platform, and the relics themselves are the object of the hall - unusual anywhere in Korea. The compound is one of the largest in the country, laid out along a stream in three linked precincts running up the valley, with more than a dozen hermitages on the slopes above. A museum holds a very large collection of Buddhist paintings. Old plum trees flower in March and draw a crowd. It is a UNESCO Sansa, a working head temple of the Jogye order, and it needs longer than most people allow.

History

The monk Jajang, who had gone to Tang China in 636 with ten other monks to study, founded Tongdosa in 646 under Queen Seondeok of Silla and enshrined the relics he brought back, said to include a robe, a begging bowl and a bone from the Buddha's skull, which is why it is the Buddha-jewel among Korea's Three Jewel temples. Legend says he drove nine dragons from a pond on the site with a fire charm and let one blind dragon stay as the temple's guardian, in the pond still called Guryongji beside the main hall. It thrived under Unified Silla and Goryeo, when Buddhism was the state religion, and stayed strong under Joseon, with hundreds of buildings and thousands of monks said to have been here at its height in the mid-15th century; only the main hall survived the Japanese invasions of 1592-1598, the rest being rebuilt afterwards, and its temple lamp is said not to have gone out for more than 1,300 years (Wikipedia, Tongdosa).

Highlights

• The empty main hall - no statue, the window onto the platform.
• The ordination platform - the relic stupa behind the hall.
• The three precincts - the compound strung up the valley.
• The painting museum - one of the largest collections in Korea.

When to go

March for the plum, April to June and October. Buddha's Birthday is spectacular and packed. Weekday mornings are calm even in season.

Good to know

It is big - allow three hours or you will only see the lower third. Ticketed, with a long approach from the gate. Working monastery: halls in use, restricted photography.

Nearby

Busan is about 40 km south; Yangsan and the Naewonsa valley are close.

Key facts