Songgwangsa

Quick facts

Address

100 Songgwangsaan-gil, Songgwang-myeon, Suncheon-si, Jeollanam-do

About this place

Songgwangsa stands on Jogyesan in Songgwang, Suncheon, South Jeolla, best known for Jinul’s meditation society. The Encyclopedia of Korean Culture names Tongdosa, Haeinsa and Songgwangsa as the three-jewel temples, standing for Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, and says Songgwangsa is called the Sangha Jewel because many great masters were produced there. Sixteen national preceptors came from it, and their portraits are kept in the Hall of National Preceptors.

Origin and history

The Encyclopedia of Korean Culture describes Songgwangsa as a temple on Jogyesan in Songgwang, Suncheon, widely known for Jinul’s meditation society.

It began as Gilsangsa, founded by Master Hyerin. National Preceptor Jinul moved here in 1200 and reopened his Samadhi and Prajna Society; in 1204 it was renamed the Meditation Society by royal decree.

Sixteen national preceptors came from this temple, and their portraits are enshrined in the Hall of National Preceptors.

What it is locally associated with

• Power spot

  The Sangha Jewel

  It is called the Sangha Jewel because many great masters were produced there. Tongdosa stands for Buddha, Haeinsa for Dharma, Songgwangsa for Sangha.

  documented history

• Origin

  Jinul’s meditation society

  National Preceptor Jinul moved here in 1200 and reopened his society, renamed the Meditation Society by royal decree in 1204.

  documented history

• Power spot

  Sixteen preceptors, one hall

  Sixteen national preceptors came from this temple, and their portraits are enshrined in the Hall of National Preceptors.

  documented history

The three-jewel temples come as a set. The encyclopedia assigns Buddha to Tongdosa, Dharma to Haeinsa and Sangha to Songgwangsa: Tongdosa is the Buddha Jewel because it enshrines the Buddha’s relics, Haeinsa the Dharma Jewel because it holds the Tripitaka recording his words, and Songgwangsa the Sangha Jewel because many great masters were produced there.

The first two rest on objects. There are relics; there are woodblocks. Only the Sangha Jewel rests on people, and those people are long gone. What remains is the Hall of National Preceptors, holding sixteen portraits.

On what is asked for here, the record says nothing. So this page carries no category of prayer.

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. 조계산 송광사(曹溪山 松廣寺) — 한국민족문화대백과사전 — Academy of Korean Studies (accessed 2026-08-12)
2. 삼보사찰(三寶寺刹) — 한국민족문화대백과사전 — Academy of Korean Studies (accessed 2026-08-12)