Bongwon-sa Temple

At the summit of Ansan, we tried to determine which way to go down. I think we wanted to go north to put us at Bongwon-sa Temple. We chose the right direction because after a little while we saw a sign at a fork which directed us to the temple.

Bongwon-sa Temple

Bongwon-sa is a Buddhist temple which is over 1000 years old and is the head temple of the Taego Order of Korean Buddhism. In 889 A.D., when it was founded by Master Dosun, it was called Banyansa and was in a slightly different location. Unfortunately, like so many things in Korea, it was destroyed by a Japanese Invasion in 1592. The temple was rebuilt in its current location in 1748 and was named Bongwon-sa.

Some of the buildings were destroyed again in the Korean war (1950s) and were rebuilt in the early 1990s. In the early 2000s, it was discovered that a serial killer was using the temple ground to bury bodies. There are currently over 50 monks there and we saw a couple.

Though we are will not be here for it, if you are considering a visit, they have a special Buddhist ritual every year on June 6 called Yeongsanjae which involves music and dancing. We thought the fall was a great time to visit as well, though. The grounds and temple were beautiful. We enjoyed looking at everything, especially all of the colorful details of the buildings. This was the first temple we really explored in Korea. Now for some pictures!

We thought the place was pretty neat. Definitely a good activity to combine with Ansan Mountain or exploring the Yonsei campus. After exploring the grounds we headed over to Sinchon.