Gwallyongsa, Gwallyongsan

Quick facts

Address

171 Hwawangsan Gwallyongsa-gil, Changnyeong-eup, Changnyeong-gun, Gyeongsangnam-do

About this place

Gwallyongsa stands in Changnyeong-eup, Changnyeong-gun, Gyeongsangnam-do. By the temple record it was founded in 349, though there is no certain basis for this; in 583 Jeungbeop rebuilt it, and that is commonly treated as the founding instead. It is said that Wonhyo saw nine dragons rising into the sky, and named the temple Gwallyongsa, seeing dragons, and the mountain Guryongsan, nine dragons. As one of the eight great temples of the Silla period it has been widely known for its many items of national heritage and for its setting. The stone seated Sakyamuni on the Yongseondae, five hundred metres up the valley west of the temple, is a typical stone Buddha of the Unified Silla period and a rare example of one placed on a mountain summit.

Origin and history

By the temple record it was founded in 349, though there is no certain basis for this. In 583 Jeungbeop rebuilt it, and that is commonly treated as the founding instead.

It is said that Wonhyo saw nine dragons rising into the sky, and named the temple Gwallyongsa, seeing dragons, and the mountain Guryongsan, nine dragons.

As one of the eight great temples of the Silla period it has been widely known for its many items of national heritage and for its setting.

The stone seated Sakyamuni on the Yongseondae, five hundred metres up the valley west of the temple, is a typical stone Buddha of the Unified Silla period and a rare example of one placed on a mountain summit.

What it is locally associated with

• Origin

  Two names from nine dragons

  Wonhyo is said to have seen nine dragons rising into the sky, and named the temple Gwallyongsa and the mountain Guryongsan.

  folk tradition

• Power spot

  A stone Buddha on a summit

  The stone seated Sakyamuni on the Yongseondae, five hundred metres up the valley west of the temple, is a rare example of an image placed on a mountain summit.

  documented history

• What people do here

  Two records of the founding

  The temple record gives 349 but with no certain basis, and Jeungbeop’s rebuilding of 583 is commonly taken as the founding instead.

  documented history

One thing seen became two names. Wonhyo is said to have watched nine dragons rise into the sky, after which the temple became Gwallyongsa, seeing dragons, and the mountain Guryongsan, nine dragons. Beomeosa on Geumjeongsan in Busan works the same way — one golden fish gave a mountain and a temple their names together — so Gyeongsang holds two of this shape.

Wonhyo’s name recurs across this province. He stayed at Bunhwangsa in Gyeongju, he renamed Girimsa there, and the temple that preceded Pyochungsa in Miryang is handed down as his founding too.

On the founding date the record is careful with itself. The temple record gives 349 but says there is no certain basis for it, and adds that Jeungbeop’s rebuilding of 583 is commonly taken as the founding instead. Both are set down here as they stand.

Where the Buddha sits is unusual as well. The stone seated Sakyamuni on the Yongseondae, five hundred metres up the western valley, is a rare example of an image placed on a mountain summit.

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. 관룡산 관룡사(觀龍山 觀龍寺) — 한국민족문화대백과사전 (accessed 2026-08-16)