Dorisa Temple, Gumi

Halfway up Naengsan in Haepyeong-myeon, Gumi, Dorisa is said to have been founded by Ado, the Goguryeo monk who first brought Buddhism to Silla. Its small grounds hold a lot of stories: the legend behind its name, a stone pagoda that looks as if it were built of bricks, and a stupa that yielded a reliquary now listed as a National Treasure.

Silla's first temple, according to legend

On his way back from preaching in the Silla capital, Ado is said to have found peach (do) and plum (ri) trees in full bloom in the middle of winter, and built a temple on the spot, hence the name Dorisa. Tradition dates it to 417, before Silla officially accepted Buddhism, which is why it is known as Silla's first temple. No record survives to confirm the exact date.

The temple kept its standing through the Goryeo period but declined after the Imjin War, and fire destroyed its halls. In 1729 it was rebuilt on the site of the nearby Geumdangam hermitage; the Patriarchs' Hall followed in 1823 and the Geungnakjeon was repaired in 1875. Today it is a branch temple of Jikjisa in Gimcheon.

What to see

• Dorisa Stone Pagoda (Treasure): a Goryeo pagoda made of small square stones stacked two or three deep so that it resembles a brick pagoda. Slabs carved with door frames are set into its sides, and experts still disagree whether the top two tiers are storeys or a base for the finial. Few pagodas anywhere look like it.
• Sakyamuni Stupa and Jeongmyeol Bogung: in 1976, repairs to the bell-shaped stupa revealed relics of the Buddha and a 17 cm hexagonal gilt-bronze reliquary (National Treasure) from the 8th–9th century. The reliquary is now in the care of the Jikjisa museum, and the Jeongmyeol Bogung hall was built in 1982 to house the relics.
• Geungnakjeon Hall: built in the early 19th century as the main hall of Geumdangam, it enshrines a gilded wooden Amitabha carved from juniper, thought to date from the 17th–18th century. Look for the guardian figures painted on both outer walls.
• Ado's meditation rock and steles: a rock where Ado is said to have meditated and a statue of him; in the pine wood to the south stand a stele recording his deeds from 1655 and a donors' stele from 1712.

Worth knowing

Ado is said to have been able to build the temple thanks to a donation from a man called Morye. The bracket sets under the Geungnakjeon eaves resemble those of Geunjeongjeon at Gyeongbokgung, rebuilt in 1870, and are regarded as typical of late Joseon architecture. A new portrait of Ado was painted in 1920.

The two steles in the southern wood repay a closer look. Ado's stele is slotted into a natural boulder; its capstone shows a serpent-dragon on the front and four dragons on the back, and the reverse of the slab is inscribed "Jaun-bi". The neighbouring donors' stele lists the people who gave rice fields to the temple and the size of each plot.

Tripto tips

• Opening: open at all times, every day, with free admission. There is a car park.
• Time needed: 40 minutes to an hour for the halls, pagoda and meditation rock. Templestay programmes (day, experience and rest) are available.
• Getting there: the temple sits high on the mountain and public transport is awkward. Take a car or taxi from central Gumi or Seonsan.
• Combine with: the Jikjisa museum, where the reliquary found here is kept, or Geumosan in Gumi on the same day.