Haedong Yonggungsa Temple

Seaside Buddhist Temple, Founded In 1376 And Rebuilt In The 20th Century · Busan, Busan

A Buddhist temple built on the rocks right beside the sea on the northeast coast of Busan, in Gijang, where most Korean temples stand deep in the mountains. It is said to have been founded in 1376 by the Goryeo-era monk Naong, destroyed in the Japanese invasions of the 1590s and rebuilt in the 20th century, taking its present name, the dragon palace temple, in the 1970s. The approach leads past a row of stone statues of the twelve zodiac animals and down a stairway of 108 steps, the number of the worldly passions in Buddhist teaching, through a rock cleft to the halls, pagodas and shrines perched above the waves, with a great white statue of the bodhisattva of mercy, Haesu Gwaneum Daebul, on the rise above. Waves break against the rocks below the main hall, and at sunrise the sea glows in front of it; on New Year's Day crowds come for the first light of the year. Entry is free. In the weeks before Buddha's Birthday in spring the temple is hung with thousands of lanterns. It lies about 30 minutes from Haeundae, near the Osiria resort area.

86 Yonggung-gil, Gijang-eup, Gijang-gun, Busan, Busan, 46083, South Korea

NO OPENING TIME HERE WAS CHECKED. The typical pattern: the temple opens very early, around 4:30 to 5 am, and closes around sunset, roughly 7 to 7:30 pm in summer and earlier in winter, every day of the year, with no ticket. Halls may close to visitors during services. The stalls on the approach open from morning to early evening. Traps: arriving at midday on a weekend into a slow crowd; not checking the date of Buddha's Birthday and missing the lanterns; New Year's Day traffic jams before dawn; typhoon closures of the lower rocks; the last bus from Osiria in the evening.

Haedong Yonggungsa Temple on Spottos · Explore more places on Spottos