Destination: Guryongsa / Chiaksan National Park (Wonju city, Gangwon-do)

Called ‘the weekend gateway for residents of the Seoul Metropolitan Area’, Chiaksan National Park covers 181 square kilometers just east of Wonju. The focus here is on Guryongsa, the temple inside the park. Literally ‘Nine Dragon Temple’, Guryongsa has a wonderful legend behind its name – and the temple’s creation. Buddhist Master Ui Sang left the Wonju area and headed for the Chiaksan mountain range. After walking for several miles, he found “the main peak of Virochana in the East and the peak of Heaven and Earth” and decided that this was the place to set up a temple. This was my last stop with Roboseyo during our Gangwon-do trip – this after Jangneung, Bodeoksa, and Gossi Cave.

A pond rested in the way of his plans, however. That pond held nine dragons, who heard the monk talk about his plans to build a temple. The dragons proposed a bet; if the monk won, the dragons would leave the pond. If the dragons won, the monk would have to forget about his temple-building plans. The monk agreed, and the dragons set out to flood the poor monk to death. Great torrent of rain and thunder began to flood the mountain ranges. When they were sure they had sent the monk to a watery grave, they went down to look for him. It turns out the priest had been napping in a boat.

“Is that all the tricks you have? Now watch my trick with your eyes wide open.” The monk drew a talisman and threw it into the pond, which made the water boil and the dragons flee for the East Sea. One dragon, which was blind, made its way to a nearby pond instead. The eight others were in such a hurry to escape that they left eight valleys behind as evidence of their escape route through the mountain.

The picture looks so blissfully rustic. In reality, there was a loud construction project working on the dirt road, which made the area anything but peaceful.

A rustic-looking stone Buddha, complete with donation box.

As of this visit, there was enough construction going on to make things less than peaceful – perhaps your visit will be quieter and more spiritual.

The spiritual Guardians of the Heavenly King need some serious dusting.

I can definitely appreciate the cut stone and classic design. This is the 종각, or the Great Bell Pavilion, where the monks sound the instruments to wake up all sentient beings.

I love the symmetry of all the smaller Buddhas against the far wall.

The old Chinese word for ‘turtle’ was also gu; at some point, the Chinese character changed from turtle to the one for the number 9. They sounded the same in Chinese, so no big change there.

The temple takes little more than a half hour to walk through; give it a bit more time to make full bows before the several Buddha statues throughout the area.

Close to the temple is the stream that flows down the mountain – here’s one of the ponds:

It’s not clear from this picture, but the waterfall actually goes a pretty high way up the mountain – at least three tiers. The fall colors were just beginning to come into place, which made the scene that much more beautiful.

Just a few of the water droplets coming off of the rocks.

Ratings (out of 5 taeguks):
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Directions to Guryongsa: get thee to Wonju in Gangwon-do – plenty of buses and trains head there from Seoul. From either the bus terminal or the train station, local bus 41 heads to the temple and the park. For more information, see one official tourism website description at visitkorea.or.kr, or check out the temple’s official website.