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![[TEMPLE ADVENTURES] Don't overlook Haein Temple's hermitages - Vimarsana News](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/11b7ceeaf5f940fb8eebf961db2281fb.jpg)
Rather obviously, the highlight of any temple visit is the main temple and its buildings. But hidden within this rather obvious statement are the countless amount of hermitages that surround these beautiful temples. This is especially true of larger temples like Tongdo Temple, Beomeo Temple and Haein Temple.
I've been twice bitten while visiting Beopju Temple before. In 2011, the batteries in my old camera ran out and then a lightning storm struck. Then in 2015, I visited the temple with a less-than-enthusiastic travel companion who wanted to wrap things up to see something more “exciting.” So this third time around this past summer, I made sure that the skies were clear, the batteries were fully charged and I had a travel companion as excited as I was to visit Beopju Temple.
![[Temple Adventures] Haedong Yonggung Temple prospers on Busan's coast - Vimarsana News](https://koreatimes-bucket.s3.ap-northeast-2.amazonaws.com/IMAGE/upload/newsV2/images/202303/3fa9ddf810824670b14e6d320c8d30e7.jpg)
In Korea, there are three different types of temples that can be organized into groups based upon their age. In the first group, you'll find hundreds of historic temples that were built several centuries ago, if not a millennium or more. Then there is the modern type of temple built within the past 100 years.
Visitors to Tongdo Temple in Yangsan, South Gyeongsang Province, might notice the closed amusement park, zoo, waterpark and hotel across the street from the temple parking lot. But they could never guess that an adult Bengal tiger is living all alone in there.
MMCA spotlights underappreciated history of Korean polychrome paintings