Haeinsa

Haeinsa is a Buddhist temple of the Jogye Order located in Hapcheon, South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. It sits on the southern slopes of Mount Gayasan in Gayasan National Park and is regarded as one of the country’s most important Buddhist temples.

The temple is best known as the home of the Tripitaka Koreana, the most complete extant edition of the Buddhist canon. Carved in the 13th century during the Goryeo dynasty, the collection comprises more than 80,000 wooden blocks and is preserved for study and liturgical use.

The blocks are stored in the Janggyeong Panjeon, a group of depositories built to protect the woodblocks from humidity and temperature fluctuations. The complex is celebrated for its architecture and its role in preserving a major religious and cultural archive.

In 1995, UNESCO inscribed the Janggyeong Panjeon as a World Heritage Site under the designation Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon, the Depositories for the Tripitaka Koreana Wood Blocks. Today, Haeinsa remains an active temple and a major cultural and historical site visited by pilgrims and tourists alike.