Haeinsa Temple
UNESCO World Heritage Site: Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon, The Depositories For The Tripitaka Koreana Woodblocks (1995); The Tripitaka Koreana Is On UNESCO'S Memory Of The World Register · Hapcheon, South Gyeongsang
One of the great head temples of Korean Buddhism, set high in the forested valleys of Gayasan in South Gyeongsang, about an hour and a half by bus west of Daegu. It was founded in 802 during the Silla kingdom and is counted among Korea's Three Jewel Temples as the temple of the Dharma, the Buddha's teaching, because it guards the Tripitaka Koreana: 81,258 wooden printing blocks carved in the 13th century with the complete Buddhist canon, made as an act of devotion to seek protection while Mongol armies ravaged Goryeo. The blocks are stored in the Janggyeong Panjeon, a set of plain 15th-century wooden halls at the top of the temple whose windows, clay floors and siting control air and humidity so well that the carvings have survived for over seven centuries, even as fires destroyed much of the temple around them. The halls are a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the blocks are on UNESCO's Memory of the World register. Monks still live and train here, visitors can join templestays and dawn chanting, and forest trails lead along the Hongnyudong stream and up to the rocky top of Gayasan.
122 Haeinsa-gil, Gaya-myeon, Hapcheon, South Gyeongsang, 50209, South Korea
NO OPENING TIME HERE WAS CHECKED. The typical pattern: the temple grounds open to day visitors from about 8 or 8:30 am to about 6 pm, earlier closing in winter, with the Janggyeong Panjeon area often closing earlier than the rest. The museum opens roughly 9:30 am to 6 pm and closes on some weekdays; check the day. The evening ceremony is around dusk. Traps: arriving after the Panjeon has closed; Gayasan trails closed in wildfire season; the last bus back to Daegu leaving before the evening ceremony; templestay booked out on autumn weekends; crowds on Buddha's Birthday.