Sinheungsa Temple, Sokcho, South Korea

Sinheungsa Temple, Sokcho, South Korea

1137, Seoraksan-ro, Sokcho-si, Gangwon-do, Republic of Korea

Seoraksan being as celebrated a mountain as it is, a number of temples have taken root in its surrounding valleys. Among them are Baekdamsa Temple at the heart of Inner Seorak, Jeongmyeol Bogung Bongjeongam, and Naksan Temple in Yangyang. Sinheungsa occupies a central place in Outer Seorak, situated along the trail leading to the beloved Heundeulbawi Rock and Ulsanbawi Rock — two of the mountain's most popular attractions. Administratively, the temple belongs to Seorakdong, Sokcho-si. It currently serves as the head temple of the Third District of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism, and its predecessor, Hyangseonsa Temple, is said to have been founded nearby in 652 AD, the sixth year of Queen Jindeok of Silla, by the monk Jajang.

Hyangseonsa was relocated in 701 AD by the monk Uisang to the site of Neunginam Hermitage and rebuilt as Seonjeongsa Temple, where it flourished for a thousand years — until it was consumed by fire in 1642, the twentieth year of King Injo's reign. Rebuilt in 1644 at its present location, it was renamed Sinheungsa. Through numerous subsequent construction efforts, many halls and pavilions were erected over the centuries. Among the surviving structures, the Geungnakbojeon Hall — designated Gangwon-do Tangible Cultural Heritage No. 14 — is a wooden building erected in 1644, celebrated for the beauty of its dancheong paintwork. Also preserved on the grounds is a three-story stone pagoda, designated Treasure No. 443, which was excavated from the original site of Hyangseonsa and dates to the time of the temple's founding.

Sinheungsa is a place that virtually anyone who has visited Seoraksan for sightseeing will have passed through at least once. Though it certainly was not always so, the temple now sits squarely in the middle of the Seoraksan tourist complex — so seamlessly woven into the resort landscape that visitors might easily mistake it for a recently established temple rather than the ancient site it truly is. Yet Sinheungsa is, without question, a temple of a thousand years of history. While most historic temples in other regions are tucked deep into the mountains, accessible only with considerable effort, Sinheungsa benefits from convenient transport links that make it feel almost casually reachable — a circumstance that, one might argue, has led its true worth to be somewhat underappreciated.

In 1997, not so long ago, a seated bronze Buddha statue standing over 14 meters tall — reportedly the largest in the world — was erected in the grounds surrounding Sinheungsa. Known as the Tongil Daebul, or Reunification Great Buddha, it was built to embody the hope for Korean reunification. While one can certainly sympathize with that aspiration, the sheer scale of the statue left an uneasy impression. It prompted the question of whether a Buddhist temple — a place devoted to the pursuit of happiness in the life beyond — is truly the right setting in which to give such worldly, monumental expression to a wish for national reunification.

The predawn hours at almost any temple offer a scene of quiet wonder, but the lights of Sinheungsa glimpsed through the early morning darkness — encountered on the way to begin a mountain hike after a night spent in Seorakdong — carry a magic all their own. On mornings when mist drifts through the valley, the temple takes on an air so mysterious that it seems like the entrance to a realm from legend, and even the most purposeful hiker finds their steps involuntarily slowing to a halt. Sinheungsa is situated at the confluence of two valleys: one leading toward the Ulsanbawi Rock trail, the other into Cheonbuldong Valley, which winds its way up toward Daecheongbong Peak.

Standing in the forecourt of Sinheungsa — which feels as though it has been drawn deep into the embrace of the valley — the jagged peaks of Outer Seorak unfold to the right in a single sweeping panorama. Watching the first pale light of dawn dissolve between those peaks above the temple grounds is the kind of view one returns to again and again, never quite tiring of it. Walking back from the temple after witnessing that dawn, having ventured out through the darkness from one's lodgings, the thought takes hold almost on its own: next time on Seoraksan, the very first stop must again be Sinheungsa at daybreak.

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