The temple stay program "I'm Going to the Temple," which helps single men and women meet, will be held at Naksansa in Yangyang, Gangwon. The participants are single men and women in their 20s and 30s who live in the capital region or Gangwon or have ties to those areas. After eight couples formed at the same event held earlier at Donghwasa in Daegu, interest is continuing in this event as well.
According to the Jogye Order Social Welfare Foundation and the Gangwon Tourism Organization on the 8th, "I'm Going to the Temple, Naksansa" will take place over one night and two days from Aug. 11 to 12 at Naksansa in Yangyang, Gangwon. Applications will be accepted from 10 a.m. on the day to 10 a.m. on the 22nd.
"I'm Going to the Temple" is a temple stay program planned by the Jogye Order Social Welfare Foundation to contribute to addressing low birthrates by facilitating natural encounters between single men and women. It combines a meeting program with traditional temple stay elements and is designed to allow participants to mingle naturally at a temple through meditation, tea talks, and temple culture experiences.
This Naksansa edition targets 20 single men and women in their 20s and 30s who live in the capital region or Gangwon or have personal ties to those areas. People with no religion or with other religions may also apply. Those who wish to participate should apply on the Jogye Order Social Welfare Foundation website.
The event is held together with the Gangwon Tourism Organization. The program includes one-on-one tea talks where participants converse in turn within the Naksansa grounds, two-person beach yoga and meditation, and coastal cleanup activities. Naksansa also hosted a Chilseok special "I'm Going to the Temple" in Aug. 2024. A couple who met in that program married last year.
In the earlier "I'm Going to the Temple, Donghwasa" edition, eight couples formed. The program at Donghwasa on Palgongsan in Daegu drew 1,602 applicants, and a total of 24 people—12 men and 12 women—ultimately took part. The matching rate was 66.7%.
Since 2023, "I'm Going to the Temple" has been operated under its current name and is known as a meeting-type temple stay familiar to young people. Until last year, participants were recruited nationwide, but starting this year it has been run by region. The program has already been held at Seonunsa in the Honam region and at Donghwasa in the Yeongnam region.
As the Buddhist community holds various events targeting younger generations to remake its image, demand for temple visits is also growing. An analysis by T Map Mobility of driving data from 2023 to 2025 found that last year the number of times temples were set as destinations increased 26.9% from the previous year. Compared with 2023, it rose 55.9%. Last year, the temple most visited by T Map users was Bulguksa, with Naksansa second.
Reflecting the shift of temples from religious and historical spaces to places to stay, the Gangwon Tourism Organization is planning related programs with the goal of developing Gangwon into a sustainable temple tourism destination.