Okcheonsa Temple, Goseon, South Korea

Okcheonsa Temple, Goseon, South Korea

471-9, Yeonhwasan 1-ro, Gaecheon-myeon, Goseong-gun, Gyeongsangnam-do, Republic of Koreag

Not long ago, I came across a stunning photograph of a temple in a magazine. It had been included in a travel writer's feature on the region, and the image was so captivating that I made up my mind on the spot to visit — that temple was Okcheonsa in Goseong. Located in Goseong County, South Gyeongsang Province, Okcheonsa is a branch temple of Ssanggyesa on Jirisan, tucked into the foothills of Yeonhwasan between Jinju and Goseong. It was founded in 670 AD, the tenth year of King Munmu of Silla, by the monk Uisang, then rebuilt in 1208 during the reign of King Huijong of Goryeo by the National Preceptor Jingak Hyesim. Destroyed during the Japanese invasions of 1592, it was restored once more in 1640, the eighteenth year of King Injo of Joseon, by the monks Hangmyeong and Uio, and has continued in that form to the present day.

Within the temple grounds stands the Daeungjeon main hall, built in 1745 during the twenty-first year of King Yeongjo and designated South Gyeongsang Provincial Tangible Cultural Heritage No. 132. The Jabangnu pavilion, over three hundred years old, is similarly designated as Provincial Tangible Cultural Heritage No. 53. The Daeungjeon itself is a dapo-style wooden structure spanning three bays across the front and two bays deep, topped with a hip-and-gable roof. The layout of the surrounding buildings has been arranged to maximize the sense of enclosure: the Jeongmukdang to the left, the Tamjindang to the right, and the Jabangnu directly opposite, all framing the courtyard in front of the main hall. Standing in that courtyard, one feels an unexpected sense of warmth and intimacy. From the outside, the atmosphere is difficult to imagine — but once you step through into the space before the Daeungjeon, the overlapping rooflines of four buildings seem to wrap around the courtyard like the arms of a great rocky outcrop, holding it in a quiet embrace.

This is the kind of place a travel writer seeks out precisely because so few people know of it. There is no public transportation whatsoever — the only way to arrive is by private car or taxi. When I asked a taxi driver at Goseong Terminal to take me to Okcheonsa, even he — a local born and raised in the area — said he had visited once as a child but hadn't been back since. Yet all the effort of getting there dissolves the moment you step out of the car. The view of Okcheonsa from the parking lot in front of Jabangnu is already lovely, and the sight that greets you as you enter the grounds and take in the courtyard of the Daeungjeon all at once — that was, quite simply, a perfect ten out of ten.

The temple keeps a dog, a rather large and imposing one. As I approached, it eyed me with mild suspicion but neither barked aggressively nor turned to flee. Instead, it simply wore an expression that seemed to say, who is this, and why is the bother, before quietly moving out of the way — an utterly endearing reaction. I had to hurry back down to catch the last bus from Jinju to Seoul, but this is a place I know I must return to with more time on my hands. Okcheonsa in Goseong may not be large, and it may not be famous — but it is a temple you will never regret visiting.

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