Temple keep members take heed to a monk at Naksan Temple in Yangyang, Gangwon Province, on this undated file photograph. Courtesy of Naksan Temple
Almost 350,000 home and overseas guests took half in temple keep packages final yr, marking an all-time excessive amid rising favorable perceptions of Buddhism in Korea.
The Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism, the nation’s largest Buddhist sect, mentioned Sunday that about 349,000 individuals took half in temple keep packages at 158 temples nationwide, together with about 294,000 Koreans and 55,515 overseas guests.
The full marked a 5.1 p.c improve from 2024, and the very best stage on file.
Temple keep packages started in 2002 through the World Cup co-hosted by Korea and Japan, providing a glimpse into Buddhist every day life whereas serving to ease a lodging scarcity and promote conventional tradition.
Launched with 33 temples and a couple of,558 members — about 51 p.c Koreans and 49 p.c overseas guests — this system has expanded steadily over the previous twenty years.
International participation first surpassed 50,000 in 2018, the yr of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, plunged through the COVID-19 pandemic and rebounded final yr above the 2018 file.
From 2002 by means of final yr, cumulative participation reached about 4.18 million, together with each home and overseas guests.
Buddhism in Korea has gained traction in recent times by means of a much less hierarchical tradition, together with temple stays that match singles and outreach occasions that includes digital dance music.
A survey final November by polling agency Hankook Analysis of two,000 individuals aged 18 and older nationwide discovered Buddhism’s favorability at 54.5 factors, the place zero will not be favorable in any respect and 100 may be very favorable. It was the very best stage because the agency started monitoring the measure in 2020.
Buddhism ranked first amongst main religions, forward of Catholicism at 52.7 and Protestantism at 34.7.
The Jogye Order plans this yr to develop stay-based temple packages tied to native tradition and tourism and introduce tailor-made meditation retreats to deal with rising psychological stress.
