Tongdosa

Temple · Korea

Yeongchuksan Tongdosa

Protection & Safety

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In short

The first of the five relic sanctuaries, whose main hall enshrines no buddha because it faces the relics behind it.

The courtyard at Tongdosa, halls stepping back toward the ordination platform. — Bernard Gagnon / Wikimedia Commons (CC0)

Quick facts

Address: 108 Tongdosa-ro, Habuk-myeon, Yangsan-si, Gyeongsangnam-do
Spiritual entities: Jajang (慈藏, 590–658)

About this place

Tongdosa stands on Yeongchuksan in Yangsan, South Gyeongsang, and is counted the first of Korea’s five relic sanctuaries. It holds relics of the Buddha that Jajang brought back from Tang China. Its main hall enshrines no buddha image; instead its front faces the ordination platform behind the building, where the relics are. As a result the same building carries three different name boards on three sides.

Origin and history

The Encyclopedia of Korean Culture records that all the relic sanctuaries except the one at Jeongamsa hold relics and skull bone that Jajang (590–658) brought back from Tang China and enshrined himself. Tongdosa is counted the first of them.

The main hall and ordination platform were designated a National Treasure in 1997.

What it is locally associated with

Power spotProtection & Safety
First of the five relic sanctuaries
It holds relics Jajang brought from Tang China, and is counted the first of the five.
documented history
Power spot
Three name boards
The same building carries different boards on three sides — main hall, ordination platform, relic sanctuary.
documented history
Origin
A main hall with no buddha
No image is enshrined inside; the front faces the relics on the ordination platform behind.
documented history

What is venerated here is not an image but relics, and this is the one place where that fact is visible in the shape of the building.

Because no buddha is enshrined inside the main hall, the hall’s front faces the ordination platform behind it, where the Buddha’s relics are kept. So the same building carries three different boards on three sides — main hall, ordination platform, relic sanctuary — depending on which way you approach. The building’s name changes with your direction of travel.

Four of the five relic sanctuaries are now on this site: Odaesan’s, Bongjeongam, Jeongamsa, and this one.

Claims and evidence levels 4

Tongdosa is counted the first of Korea’s five relic sanctuaries and holds relics of the Buddha brought back from Tang China by Jajang. documented history
Its main hall enshrines no buddha image; the hall faces the ordination platform behind the building, where the relics are kept. documented history
The same building carries three different name boards on three sides — main hall, ordination platform and relic sanctuary — according to the direction of approach. documented history
The main hall and ordination platform were designated a National Treasure in 1997. 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.