Jogyesa

Temple · Seoul

Gakhwangsa · Taegosa

Exams & Study

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

The head temple of the Jogye Order, in the middle of downtown Seoul, where a prayer for children ends the day before the national entrance exam each year.

The main hall of Jogyesa, its bracketed eaves rising above the temple courtyard in central Seoul. — Severin.stalder / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Quick facts

Address: 55 Ujeongguk-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul
Official site: www.jogyesa.kr

About this place

Jogyesa stands in central Jongno and is the head temple of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism. It was founded in 1910 under the name Gakhwangsa, became Taegosa in 1940, and took its present name in 1962 when the unified order was formed. It is not a mountain temple and it is not an old one: it was built to be the centre of modern Korean Buddhism, and that is what gives the place its character.

Origin and history

The Encyclopedia of Korean Culture records Jogyesa as a temple founded in 1910 in Gyeonji-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul. It began that same year as Gakhwangsa, in Susong-dong.

The buildings went up in 1938, and in May 1940 the head-temple name Taegosa was authorised. On 11 April 1962, with the launch of the unified order joining celibate and married clergy, Taegosa was renamed Jogyesa. It now serves as the head temple of Korean Buddhism and of the Jogye Order’s directly administered diocese.

What it is locally associated with

Origin
Founded in 1910, as Gakhwangsa
Not an ancient temple but one built to be the centre of modern Korean Buddhism. The name Jogyesa dates from 1962.
documented history
What people do hereExams & Study
A prayer that closes the day before the exam
The 111-day Hwaeom Seongjung prayer for children ends the day before the entrance exam — a schedule the temple publishes itself.
local custom
Power spot
A head temple downtown
Head temple of the Jogye Order’s directly administered diocese, and of Korean Buddhism.
documented history

What links this temple to examinations is not a transmitted story but something the temple is doing now. Jogyesa announces a 111-day Hwaeom Seongjung prayer for children whose closing day falls the day before the national university entrance exam. The temple has said, in its own words, what the prayer is for.

Few Korean temples publish their prayer calendars on an https site of their own. That is why this page can write that Jogyesa announces its examination prayer rather than that the practice is told of it.

Claims and evidence levels 4

Jogyesa was founded in 1910 in Jongno-gu, Seoul, beginning as Gakhwangsa in Susong-dong. documented history
The head-temple name Taegosa was authorised in May 1940, and on 11 April 1962 the temple was renamed Jogyesa with the launch of the unified Jogye Order. documented history
It serves as the head temple of Korean Buddhism and of the Jogye Order’s directly administered diocese. documented history
The temple announces a 111-day Hwaeom Seongjung prayer for children whose closing day falls the day before the national university entrance examination. local custom

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.