Woljeongsa Temple 월정사

Woljeongsa Temple is located in the forest of the valley east of Mt. Odaesan, and it is composed of 60 temples and 8 monasteries made into one large temple. Woljeongsa Temple was established by Monk Ja Jang (590~658). At Woljeongsa Temple there is the Seongbo Museum where you can view the Buddhist culture of the Goryeo Dynasty (918∼1392), the nine-story octagonal pagoda, also called as the Sari-Pagoda (relic pagoda), and the Stone Seated Buddha figure. Also there is the Jeokmyeolbogung where Buddha's bones are said to be preserved, and the large sermon hall Jeokgwangjeon Pavilion. Usually in a Jeokgwangjeon Pavilion the Vairocana figure is enshrined, but it is interesting that the Sakyamuni figure is enshrined at Jeokgwangjeon Pavilion at Woljeong temple. Woljeongsa Temple of today was restored after the Korean war in 1950 when the Chilbulbojeon, Yeongsanjeon, Gwaneungjeon, Jinyeonggak and 17 other buildings were burned. Many cultural assets and historic data were lost at this time. The Silla Dongjong, which was excavated from the Seonrimwon site in Yangyang-gun, was also lost. The Budo site (relic site) and sagoji (historic document storage) is nearby Woljeongsa Temple. The Budo site is a 15-minute walk from the Woljeongsa Temple to its location at the Sangwonsa Temple, just before crossing the Banya Bridge. Here there are 22 pagodas that hold the remains of the monks who had lived here. Sagoji is an hour’s walk from Woljeongsa Temple towards Sangwonsa near Yeonggamsa Temple.