Author Archives: crystalburney

Heading into the colourful Beomeosa Temple

The beautiful Beomeosa temple is definitely one of Busan, South Korea’s must-see sights. Although it’s located within the city, nestled high in the hills, the temple seems miles away from Busan’s busy streets.
While Beomeosa is a nice place to visit at any time of year, the colourful changing leaves on the surrounding mountains during the fall make the temple’s backdrop truly magnificent.
The surrounding area is a popular place to go hiking for both locals and tourists and when the weather is nice it’s a busy place with trails leading to the temple, the northern starting point for trails across Geumjeongsan.

Temples in Korea have been a place of refuge for Korean people for more than 1,700 years. Tradition has been that these temples open their gates to allow everyone to experience the traditional Korean Buddhist culture.
Here at Beomeosa, the temple offers both overnight “Templestay” programs and 1-day “Temple Life” programs for visitors to learn about and get a feel for Korean Buddhism. The sign at the gate states “You can cleanse your mind through a meaningful journey to search your true nature while staying at a beautiful temple.”

Beomeosa is known as a Comprehensive Training Monastery and was built by Great Master Uisang, a leading monk at that time, in the 18th year of King Munmu of the Silla Dynasty (678 C.E). It is one of 25 major temples in Korea and has 11 hermitages on the mountain and more than 200 branch temples around the nation.

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To get to Beomeosa Temple:

Metro line 1 to Beomeosa, Exit 5. Walk 200m. Catch bus 90 (1200won) or walk up the steep slope for a nice hike in the woods.
The temple is open from 8:30-5:30pm.