Tongdosa

Tongdosa
Gate of Non-Duality (left), Hall of Maitreya (center) and Youngsanjeon (right) buildings with Three-story Stone Pagoda (center fore).
Korean name
Hangul	통도사
Hanja
Revised Romanization	Tongdosa
McCune–Reischauer	T'ongdosa

Tongdosa ('Salvation of the world through mastery of truth') is a head temple of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism and in the southern part of Mt. Chiseosan near Yangsan City, Gyeongsangnam-do, South Korea.

Tongdosa is one of the Three Jewel Temples of Korea and represents the Buddha. (Haeinsa, also in Gyeongsangnam-do, represents the dharma or Buddhist teachings; and Songgwangsa in Jeollanam-do represents the sangha or Buddhist community.)

Tongdosa is famous because there are no statues outside of the Buddha at the temple because the "real shrines of the Buddha" (relics) are preserved at Tongdosa. Courtyards at the temple are arrayed around several stupas (pagodas) that house the Buddha's relics.

Tongdosa was established by the monk Jajang after returning from China in 646 CE, during the reign of Queen Seondeok of Silla. It thrived throughout the Unified Silla and Goryeo periods, when Buddhism was the state religion, and remained strong even in the Joseon Dynasty.

Tongdosa is reputeded to house several relics of the Sakyamuni Buddha himself, including a robe, a begging bowl, and a bone from his skull, all relics that Jajang brought back from the travels to China he undertook in 636 to study with ten other monks.

Only one building, the Daeungjeon (main Dharma worship hall), survived the Imjin wars in the late 16th century; the other buildings were rebuilt later that period. In the mid 15th century at the height of its prosperity, Tongdosa is said to have had hundreds of buildings and thousands of monks. For over 1,300 years Tongdosa's Beopdeung (temple candle) has never gone out.