A Temple by the Sea

“We have to see this temple! It’s what Busan is known for! When you do a search online for Busan, this temple always come up.”

This woman on my tour finally got her way, after begging our tour guide to take the group on a detour from the hotel. I was a little annoyed because I wanted to rest before dinner. After all, it had been a long train ride from Seoul to Busan, and our schedule was already packed for such a short period of time. However, our tour guide feared we would venture on our own and get lost trying to find this temple. To keep us together and to continue with our tight itinerary, she conceded to my tour mate’s request.

Originally built in 1376, this temple resides on the east side of Busan and was originally known as Bomun Temple. Rebuilt after the Japanese invasion in the 1930’s, it was renamed in 1974 to Haedong Yonggung Temple. It is one of the few temples in Korea set on the seaside, attracting sightseers to its shore.

We arrived at the market late in the afternoon, when most of the stalls had already closed shop. The market path led to a plaza that had a line of statues of human bodies with animal heads. Our guide told us these were the statues of the Chinese zodiac signs, so we each scrambled to find our zodiac signs to take selfies.

A bit further down, we came to a large, white Buddhist pagoda. Behind it was a gate with two golden dragons serving as its pillars. I could already hear the faint sound of the waves and see the ocean in between the trees. The gate led to steps going down.

“I don’t want to go all the way down,” my friend said to me. “I don’t want to climb back up.”

I understood how she felt. We were all exhausted from traveling, and we were not sure what we were going to see. Still, it was my first time in Busan, let alone South Korea, and I was not sure if I would ever be able to come back.

I left my friend at the Buddha statue set into the side of the wall, granting wishes to bear children if his belly was rubbed – or so that is what people seemed to believe as they took pictures with their hand on his paunch. The further down the winding stairs I went, under the trees and past stone lanterns, the more I started to share the same concern as my friend. Soon, the trees and the lanterns started to reveal the temple, little by little. A roof, another pagoda, and the rocky land the temple sits on. At one point, I came to a landing on the left of the staircase where I chose to rest. There, a statue of buddha sat, sheltered with a roof and candles lit on either side. This statue faced the sea, so I turned around to see his point of view.

To the left was a gold statue of Buddha sitting on the edge of a rock, as if in meditation. To the right was Haedong Yonggung Temple. And between these two, the waves crashed against the rocks. My eyes examined the temple from a distance, and I saw the bridge over the rocks leading to the grounds. It was not much further. However, I decided to stay where I was because I felt I had the best view of the temple, the rocks and the water. From my vantage, I understood why people flock here. It was worth the climb down, and the impending climb up.

“This is the most beautiful and serene temple I’ve ever seen,” I thought. “Thank goodness for this detour.”

~ T ~