Temple Architecture - Dale's Korean Temple Adventures

Korean Buddhist temples and hermitages vary in size and shape. As a result, a temple can have any number of shrine halls and gates. Typically, a Korean Buddhist temple has at least one entry gate, but it can have as many as three or four. As for temple shrine halls, a temple will always have a main hall; but depending on which Buddha or Bodhisattva is housed inside it, it can be any number of possible main halls like a Daeung-jeon Hall or a Wontong-jeon Hall. Typically the larger a Korean Buddhist temple, the more shrine halls you’ll find. So a temple can have one or two temple shrine halls, which includes a shaman shrine hall (a unique feature to Korean Buddhism), or it can have almost a dozen. Below is a list of potential gates and shrine halls you might encounter at a Korean Buddhist temple. Click on the name of the shrine hall and/or gate below to follow the link.

1. Iljumun Gate – The One Pillar Gate: 일주문

2. Geumgangmun Gate – The Diamond Gate: 금강문

3. Cheonwangmun Gate – The Heavenly Kings Gate: 천왕문

4. Bulimun Gate – The Gate of Non-Duality: 불이문

5. Universal Salvation Pavilion – Boje-ru: 보제루

6. Daeung-jeon – Great Hero Hall: 대웅전

7. Geukrak-jeon – Paradise Hall: 극락전

8. Daejeokgwang-jeon – The Hall of Ultimate Silence and Light: 대적광전

9. Yaksa-jeon – The Hall of Yaksa-bul: 약사전

10. Mireuk-jeon – The Future Buddha Hall: 미륵전

11. Gwaneum-jeon – Hall of Avalokitesvara: 관음전

12. Myeongbu-jeon – The Judgment Hall: 명부전