I visited this WHS in April 2017 while following a 2 day 1 night regular program templestay. I enjoyed getting a general overview of meditation and different insights from a Buddhist monk even though my primary aim was to enrich my visit to this WHS and be able to appreciate its OUV without the presence of busloads of tourists.

For this reason I was very pleased with the templestay in general although I'd recommend staying at a less famous mountain temple if possible to get a less touristy approach. I had already experienced Buddhist monastery life in Laos, Myanmar and Nepal and I found them to be much less touristy and more authentic experiences than the templestay in South Korea. Still it is a very interesting experience and a good alternative to the budget accomodation options available near most mountain temples. I enjoyed learning about the temple etiquette that lay Buddhists are supposed to follow.

Haeinsa Temple is located at 400 metres above sea level beneath the Gaya mountain at the heart of the Gayasan National Park. To reach the temple, I caught a bus to Daegu and another bus to Haeinsa proper. If you show your templestay reservation you won't have to pay the entrance fee to the Gayasan National Park which is collected at the toll station on the bus itself nor the entrance ticket to Haeinsa Temple itself. When I visited, the temple was colourfully adorned with prayer lanterns to celebrate Buddha's birthday (picture). The UNESCO stone marker is just opposite the entrance to the temple (some 1.5km uphill from the bus stop).

Even though the Haeinsa Temple buildings are quite interesting and kept in very good condition, the main reason for its separate inscription as a WHS are the depositories of the Tripitaka Koreana, believed to be the world's oldest and most comprehensive intact version of Buddhist canon in Chinese script, with no known errors. It is carved onto 81,340 wooden printing blocks with over 52 million characters which are organised in 1514 titles and 6791 volumes. A team of around thirty scribes completed the work in 1251, under the shadow of the imminent Mongol invasions.

The Tripitaka Koreana is housed in 4 buildings collectively called Janggyeong Panjeon, that are laid out in a rectangular arrangement. The Hall of the Dharma Treasure and the Hall of Sutras are the 2 main halls as depositories of the Tripitaka. The 2 small halls to the east and west sides house wooden printing blocks of later Buddhist scriptures.

At first glance the Janggyeong Panjeon seems to be built in quite a plain and ordinary style. However, the complex was in fact built to exact specifications to preserve the woodblocks by very sophisticated means. The location of the complex as well as the layout and structure of the buildings and windows maintain optimum ventilation, temperature, humidity and light intensity. Since the 18th century, 7 serious fires broke out at Haeinsa Temple, but the flames never reached Janggyeong Panjeon.

Each block of the Tripitaka Koreana is composed of a board on which characters are carved. 2 wooden end pieces are designed as the handle attached on both ends. Each block measures 70cm by 24cm by 2.8cm and weighs about 3.25kg. 23 lines of text with 14 characters per line are carved in relief onto each block on both sides. The wooden printing blocks are also inscribed on the Memory of the World Register but I agree that the halls themselves together with the Tripitaka Koreana itself possess OUV as one of the most remarkable library structures in Asia.

Writing and carving the text was an enormous undertaking that involved a number of craftsmen, officials and scholars for the different stages of the production and printing process of the Tripitaka Koreana. The wood for the woodblocks was soaked for long in sea muds or steamed in brine to soften the wood for carving and to protect the finished blocks from insect damage. The engravings are believed to have been done at Daesa-ri Namhaegun in the south coast of the Korean peninsula. The tidal range is very high there, so transporting and soaking the wood was quite easy.

According to historical research, paper manuscripts were attached to the boards each with 23 lines of text and 14 characters per line. Scholars and officials had to practice before writing to ensure consistency in the calligraphic style. In order for the characters to be printed in the proper direction, the same side of the paper manuscript on which the text was written was pasted onto the block. Immediately before carving, vegetable oil was thinly applied to the paper making the letters show distinctly. Characters were then carved in relief on both sides of the woodblocks.

Each carved woodblock was printed and compared with the original text to find any mistakes. Wrongly engraved characters were carved out on a separate piece of wood and then glued onto the spot that was carved out. This proofreading and correction work was done so meticulously that no traces of correction could be found in any of the woodblocks. The production of good quality paper during the Goryeo period made it possible to print the Tripitaka Koreana. To print it, a woodblock was evenly covered with ink, a piece of paper was placed on it, and then the paper was scrubbed lightly with an implement made of hair lumped with bee-wax.

The original woodblocks can be seen through the wooden ventilation windows even though stanchions have been placed to avoid any possible damage to the fragile windows from the ubiquitous selfie sticks. Being there at 8:30am with our assigned monk meant that we had the place to ourselves. In 2000, after 9 years of work involving 100 experts and a cost of 8 million dollars, the Tripitaka Koreana was finally digitalized. Work is also underway to create a copper plate Tripitaka Koreana.

All in all I enjoyed my visit and I would definitely rank it as one of the must see WHS in South Korea.