Yakcheonsa Temple

9 November 2022

Yakcheonsa Temple is a temple located in Seogwipo, a short drive from Jungsangjeolli Cliff and Cheonjeyeon Waterfall.

I added this temple into my Jeju itinerary for the benefit of Buddhists in my group but non-Buddhists would enjoy a visit as well. Like the Gwaneumsa Temple that we visited in the morning, this is a great place to take a rest, enjoy the calm and peacefulness in its vast and well cultivated grounds. For those who like architecture, the temple buildings are colourful, intricately designed and picture-worthy too.

Yakcheonsa is one of the biggest Buddhist temples in Asia. Located in the southern part of Jeju Island, it rises high and overlooks the sea’s sparkling waters.

One the first things that I noticed when I entered the temple’s ground was the tall palms trees rising majestically against the clear blue sky, giving it an unusual tropical vibe. Like most Buddhist temples, Yakcheonsa is perched on high ground, overlooking the sea for good feng shui.

We came to a pair of Jeju’s famous rock statues called Dolhareubang guarding the main pathway that leads up to the temple. 

Dolhareubang are supposed to offer protection and fertility.

While my traveling companions were busy snapping photos at the Dolhareubang, my wife and I crossed an arched stone bridge over a pond. It would be nice to see some lotus flowers or koi fish on this pond but there were none.

We climbed some stairs to get to the main courtyard where the main temple, bell and drum towers and several other buildings were located.

Once on the main courtyard, we could see the impressive temple that could be mistaken as an imperial palace. We were the only visitors and we had the whole spacious courtyard to ourselves.

 

The temple is so impressive that it looked like a palace.

The temple is fairly new, being constructed in 1980s but the architecture is based on that of Buddhist temples of the early Joseon Dynasty.

Intricate roof structure that is so typical of the palace and temple buildings in the Joseon era.

Spacious open courtyard with bell and drum pavilions on each corner.

Beautiful drum pavilion.

We took off our shoes and entered the temple to see a tall golden statue of Celestial Buddha (Vairocana), with smaller Buddhas on both sides. Dragons encircle golden pillars in the front of the Buddha and the walls are covered with beautifully colored paintings.

The tall golden statue of Celestial Buddha (Vairocana), with two smaller Buddhas on both sides.

Devotees can buy a 1 kg bag of rice for 10,000 KWR to offer to the Buddha in return. I joined my Buddhist friends to make an offering to Buddha. In addition to prayers for good health, luck, safety and happiness for the family, I prayed for good weather for the next few days in Jeju (weather was forecasted to be rainy in the next few days) and speedy recovery for my recently injured friend.

Our driver cum guide then led our group to the second floor. The second floor provides a better vantage point of the Buddha statues and the impressive hall.

The gigantic golden Buddha and the twin columns is best viewed from the upper levels.

Close-up view of the dragons encircling the columns.

There is a wall with many small Buddha statues and a large table with lots of lit candles with names and dates on each of them. We were discussing among ourselves what those dates meant and we came to the conclusion that those are the probably the birth dates of the devotees who made the offerings or donations to the temple. 

Candles with names of devotees.

Rows and rows of buddha statues on this wall at the second floor.

Leaving the main temple hall, we took a slow walk back to the car park. There are a few other buildings such as the Hall of 500 Arahans but we did not go inside.

There were many tangerine trees with green and orange fruits all over the temple grounds. It was a pleasant walk back to the car park.

Tangerine trees with orange fruits.

Unripe Hallabong orange at the Yakcheonsa Temple.

From Yakcheonsa, our driver drove us to Seogwipo, Jeju’s other city. He took the coastal route, enabling us to have a glimpse of the Olle trails, similar to those that we would be hiking over the next 2 days.

Our hotel for the next 3 days is the BK Hotel, located in the southern side of Seogwipo.