Dorisa, Naengsan

Quick facts

Address

526 Dorisa-ro, Haepyeong-myeon, Gumi-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do

About this place

Dorisa stands on Naengsan in Haepyeong-myeon, Gumi-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do. There is a story that in the reign of King Nulji of Silla, in the Three Kingdoms period, a monk called Ado, who resembled Mukhoja in appearance, saw that flowers were in full bloom in this district although it was winter, and built a temple. This temple is handed down as the first temple in Silla. Its name is written with the characters for the peach tree and the plum tree. A stone image taken to be the reverend Ado was found here later, and when the Sejon sarira pagoda was taken apart and restored, a reliquary in the form of a gilt-bronze hexagonal pagoda was found, together with one grain of the Buddha’s own relic. In 1655 the Jaun stele was carved on the back of the stele of the reverend Ado, setting down the particulars and the merit of a repair of Dorisa.

Origin and history

There is a story that in the reign of King Nulji of Silla, in the Three Kingdoms period, a monk called Ado, who resembled Mukhoja in appearance, saw that flowers were in full bloom in this district although it was winter, and built a temple. This temple is handed down as the first temple in Silla. Its name is written with the characters for the peach tree and the plum tree.

A stone image taken to be the reverend Ado was found here later.

When the Sejon sarira pagoda was taken apart and restored, a reliquary in the form of a gilt-bronze hexagonal pagoda was found, together with one grain of the Buddha’s own relic.

In 1655 the Jaun stele was carved on the back of the stele of the reverend Ado, setting down the particulars and the merit of a repair of Dorisa.

What it is locally associated with

• Origin

  Flowers in bloom though it was winter

  A story says that in the reign of King Nulji a monk called Ado saw flowers in full bloom in this district although it was winter, and built a temple.

  folk tradition

• Power spot

  The first temple in Silla

  This temple is handed down as the first temple in Silla.

  folk tradition

• What people do here

  A relic from the Sejon pagoda

  When the Sejon sarira pagoda was taken apart and restored, a gilt-bronze hexagonal reliquary was found together with one grain of the Buddha’s own relic.

  documented history

What is handed down as the reason this temple stands is flowers out of season. Ado is said to have built it on seeing flowers in full bloom although it was winter. The name is written with the characters for peach and plum; both things come down separately, and no record sets one out as the reason for the other.

The standing the temple claims for itself is first. It is handed down as the first temple in Silla.

The name of Jikjisa in Gimcheon also begins here. That temple’s record says the reverend Ado, having founded Dorisa, pointed his finger at Hwangaksan and said that over there was ground where a great temple would stand. The two temples point at each other and are joined by one man’s name.

Something came out of a pagoda as well. In the course of taking apart and restoring the Sejon sarira pagoda, a reliquary in the form of a gilt-bronze hexagonal pagoda was found, together with one grain of the Buddha’s own relic.

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. 냉산 도리사(冷山 桃李寺) — 한국민족문화대백과사전 (accessed 2026-08-16)