Bongjeongam

Quick facts

Address

Sosecheongbong, Seoraksan, Buk-myeon, Inje-gun, Gangwon

Spiritual entities

Jajang (慈藏, 590–658)

About this place

Bongjeongam is a hermitage on Sosecheongbong in Seoraksan, Inje, Gangwon. It is a branch hermitage of Baekdamsa, head temple of the third diocese of the Jogye Order, and is known as one of the five great relic sanctuaries. It is told that in 643 Jajang returned from Tang China with relics of the Buddha and founded the hermitage to enshrine them here. The five-storey stupa said to hold them is estimated to be of the Goryeo period.

Origin and history

The Encyclopedia of Korean Culture places Bongjeongam on Sosecheongbong in Seoraksan, Buk-myeon, Inje. It is a branch hermitage of Baekdamsa, head temple of the third diocese of the Jogye Order.

It is told that in 643 the monk Jajang returned from Tang China carrying relics of the Buddha and founded Bongjeongam to enshrine them here. The five-storey stupa said to hold those relics, however, is estimated to date from the Goryeo period. The founding tradition and the pagoda’s actual date do not agree, and the encyclopedia records the disagreement rather than resolving it.

What it is locally associated with

• Power spotProtection & Safety

  One of the five relic sanctuaries

  Counted among the principal Buddhist sanctuaries, with Odaesan’s Jeongmyeol-bogung and Jeongamsa.

  documented history

• Origin

  Relics Jajang is said to have brought

  It is told that Jajang returned from Tang China in 643 with relics of the Buddha and founded the hermitage to enshrine them.

  folk tradition

• Origin

  The stupa is read as Goryeo

  The five-storey stupa said to hold the relics is estimated to date from the Goryeo period.

  documented history

What is venerated here is not an image but relics. Bongjeongam is known as one of the five great relic sanctuaries, the same group as Odaesan’s Jeongmyeol-bogung and Jeongamsa in Jeongseon, both on this site.

That Jajang brought the relics is transmitted, and the stupa is centuries later than the story. That is why this page writes the founding as something told rather than something recorded.

Related guides

• How to visit a Korean templeHands together and hands folded, how the bows work, and what to do at the threshold of a hall. Starting with what is different from visiting a Japanese shrine.
• The small hall behind the main one — sansingak and samseonggakUphill from the main hall of a Korean temple stands a smaller one, and inside it an old man with a tiger. This is where the indigenous religion sits, inside the Buddhist institution.
• Templestay — a night at a templeA programme that puts you inside a temple’s own timetable for a day or two. What you do, which type to book, and what to be ready for.
• Prayer sites and the one wishThe three great Gwaneum sites, the five relic halls, and the crowds before the entrance exam. Where the saying about one wish comes from, and where the record stops.

Sources

1. 봉정암(鳳頂庵) — 한국민족문화대백과사전 — Academy of Korean Studies (accessed 2026-08-12)
2. 태백산 천제단 — 국가유산포털 — Korea Heritage Service (accessed 2026-08-12)