Woljeongsa, Odaesan

Quick facts

Address

374-8 Odaesan-ro, Jinbu-myeon, Pyeongchang-gun, Gangwon

Spiritual entities

Jajang (慈藏, 590–658) · Mañjuśrī (文殊菩薩, Munsu)

About this place

Woljeongsa stands in Jinbu-myeon, Pyeongchang, and is the head temple of the fourth district of the Jogye Order. The Vinaya master Jajang founded it in 643. At the founding he put together a temporary grass hut and stayed there hoping to see the true body of the bodhisattva Manjushri, but through the three days he remained the weather stayed gloomy and he did not achieve it. Fire destroyed the temple entirely in 1307 and Yiil rebuilt it; fire destroyed it again in 1833 and Yeongdam and Jeongam rebuilt it in 1844. During the January retreat, for operational reasons, more than ten buildings including the Chilbulbojeon hall were burned down entirely by friendly forces. After Tanheo rebuilt the Jeokgwangjeon hall in 1964, Manhwa continued the reconstruction to the present day. The octagonal nine-storey stone pagoda, 15.2 metres high, is designated a National Treasure.

Origin and history

Woljeongsa was founded in 643 by the Vinaya master Jajang. At the founding he put together a temporary grass hut and stayed there hoping to see the true body of the bodhisattva Manjushri, but through the three days he remained the weather stayed gloomy and he did not achieve it.

Fire destroyed the temple entirely in 1307 and Yiil rebuilt it; fire destroyed it again in 1833 and Yeongdam and Jeongam rebuilt it in 1844.

During the January retreat, for operational reasons, more than ten buildings including the Chilbulbojeon hall were burned down entirely by friendly forces.

After Tanheo rebuilt the Jeokgwangjeon hall in 1964, Manhwa carried the reconstruction steadily forward to the present.

What it is locally associated with

• Origin

  He did not achieve it

  Jajang stayed in a grass hut hoping to see the true body of Manjushri, but through three days of gloomy weather he did not achieve it.

  folk tradition

• Origin

  Burned by friendly forces

  During the January retreat, for operational reasons, more than ten buildings including the Chilbulbojeon hall were burned down by friendly forces.

  documented history

• What people do here

  A National Treasure pagoda

  The octagonal nine-storey stone pagoda, 15.2 metres high, is designated a National Treasure.

  documented history

This temple’s founding record sets down not what was achieved but what was not. Jajang built a grass hut, stayed, and hoped to see the true body of Manjushri; through three days of foul weather, the account says, he did not achieve it. Founding stories on this site are usually about something seen or something received. Here the temple remained without the seeing.

The record of burning runs to three. 1307, 1833, and the January retreat. Temples across Gangwon share this passage — Sinheungsa, Naksansa and Baekdamsa in the same province all have large parts of their histories made of loss and rebuilding.

The third is not like the first two. Burned down entirely by friendly forces, for operational reasons, the encyclopedia writes. That the side which set the fire was not the enemy stays on the record.

What stands now came after. Tanheo rebuilt the Jeokgwangjeon in 1964 and Manhwa carried the work on. Only the octagonal nine-storey pagoda came through all of it.

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. 오대산 월정사(五臺山 月精寺) — 한국민족문화대백과사전 (accessed 2026-08-16)