Yakcheonsa Temple藥泉寺

Jeju Yakcheonsa Temple is a giant temple with a large Dharma hall, known as a landmark of Seogwipo City, Jeju Island, and is a branch temple of Eunhaesa Temple, the head temple of the 10th district of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism. Originally, it was a small hermitage named Yaksuam, but it was named Yakcheonsa because there was a famous mineral spring (yaksu) nearby. Under Hyein, who was appointed as head monk in 1981, a major temple construction project took place, and in 1996, the Daejeokgwangjeon (Great Hall of Universal Light), boasting a grand scale for a single temple building, was erected, making the temple famous. The Daejeokgwangjeon is a multi-story, open-plan concrete building designed in the style of early Joseon Buddhist architecture. In the bell pavilion in front of the Dharma hall, a temple bell (beomjong) is hung, engraved with writings and illustrations emphasizing filial piety. Furthermore, a story is passed down that in the 1960s, Kim Hyeong-gon, a Confucian scholar, while performing a 100-day prayer in a small cave to cure a chronic illness, recovered his health after receiving and drinking mineral water in a dream. To repay the Buddha's grace, he built Yaksuam, diligently practiced Buddhism, and eventually passed away there. With its magnificent scale, it is regarded as an essential tourist course that even visitors to Jeju Island must visit, and it also operates templestays for both domestic and international visitors. At Yakcheonsa Temple, ancestral tablets of King Munjong, who was King Sejong's son, and Queen Hyeondeok are enshrined, as well as those of Crown Prince Yeongchin and Princess Yi Bangja.