Jogyesa Temple

Jogyesa is the head temple of Korean Zen Buddhism — the administrative and spiritual centre of the Jogye Order, which oversees the majority of Buddhist temples and monks in South Korea. The temple sits in the middle of Jongno-gu, surrounded by office buildings and shopping streets, and the transition from the commercial bustle of Insadong to the incense-scented calm of the temple courtyard happens in a single step through the gate.

The main hall, Daeungjeon, is the largest Buddhist hall in Seoul — a wooden structure painted in the elaborate dancheong (decorative painting) patterns that make Korean temple architecture one of the most colourful in Asia. The three golden Buddhas inside represent the historical Buddha, Amitabha (Buddha of infinite light), and the Medicine Buddha, and the hall is an active place of worship where monks and laypeople perform prostrations, chanting, and meditation daily.

The temple's two ancient trees — a white pine estimated at 500 years old and a Chinese scholar tree at 450 years — are designated natural monuments and are older than the temple's current buildings. During the Lotus Lantern Festival in April/May (celebrating Buddha's birthday), the entire temple and surrounding streets are hung with thousands of paper lanterns in every colour, and the evening parade through the streets of Jongno-gu is one of Seoul's most spectacular annual events. The temple also runs a Temple Stay programme that lets visitors spend a night participating in monastic life — meditation, tea ceremony, prostrations, and a dawn wake-up call that puts any alarm clock to shame.