Jeongmyeol-bogung, Odaesan

Temple · Korea

Protection & Safety

Researched and translated with AI assistance. Every claim is linked to its source, but errors get through, so check the official site for opening times, fees and closures.About

In short

A relic hall on the middle terrace of Odaesan with no buddha image inside, because the Buddha’s own relics are enshrined there.

The relic hall on the middle terrace of Odaesan, a small timber building among trees. — 배윤석 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Quick facts

Address: Odaesan, Jinbu-myeon, Pyeongchang-gun, Gangwon State
Spiritual entities: Jajang (慈藏, 590–658)

About this place

A jeongmyeol-bogung is a hall enshrining relics of the Buddha himself. Because the relics are the object of devotion, halls of this kind hold no buddha image inside. The one on the middle terrace of Odaesan is said to enshrine relics brought back from Tang China by Jajang, and stands above Sajaam, past Sangwonsa.

Origin and history

A jeongmyeol-bogung is a hall enshrining relics of the Buddha. Because the relics themselves are the object of devotion, no buddha image is placed inside.

Jajang is said to have travelled to Tang China in 636, received relics including a cranial fragment and a tooth from Manjushri beside Taehwa Pond on Wutai Shan, and returned in 645, building a relic hall on the middle terrace of Odaesan and enshrining the cranial relic beneath it. The hall is tended from Sajaam below, which was designated a Treasure in 2018.

What it is locally associated with

Power spot
A hall with no image
The relics themselves are the object of devotion, so no buddha image is placed inside.
documented history
OriginProtection & Safety
The relics Jajang brought back
He is said to have returned in 645 and enshrined a cranial relic beneath a hall raised on the middle terrace.
folk tradition
Power spot
Sajaam
The hermitage below that tends the relic hall; designated a Treasure in 2018.
documented history

What is venerated here is not an image but a relic. The empty hall is not a lack; it is the principle of this form of building.

This is not Sangwonsa. The two share a mountain and are often spoken of together, but the state record treats them separately, and reaching this hall means walking up past Sajaam from Sangwonsa.

Claims and evidence levels 3

A jeongmyeol-bogung enshrines relics of the Buddha, and halls of this form hold no buddha image inside because the relics themselves are the object of devotion. documented history
Jajang is said to have received relics from Manjushri at Wutai Shan, returned in 645, and enshrined a cranial relic beneath a hall on the middle terrace of Odaesan. folk tradition
Sajaam, below the relic hall, serves as the hermitage tending it and was designated a Treasure in 2018. documented history

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.