According to the temple's founding stele, a stone boat appeared off the coast near Sajapo in August of 749. When the monk Uijo and roughly a hundred disciples purified themselves and went down to the shore, the boat is said to have drifted in and landed on its own. The founding legend itself is difficult to verify as historical fact, but what is certain is that this story has shaped the temple's identity through oral tradition for more than 1,200 years. The temple burned down during the Jeongyu War (the second Japanese invasion of 1597), was rebuilt the following year, in 1598, by the monk Manseon, and was repaired once more in 1754.
In the late Joseon period, a succession of renowned monks resided here, and the temple's standing rose accordingly — a legacy now visible in its 28 stupas and 5 memorial steles. One of the two stupa fields on the grounds alone holds 26 stupas along with five monument steles dedicated to eminent monks known as Seolbongdang, Songpa, Geumha, Nangam, and Byeokha. Yet most visitors to Mihwangsa today think first not of the founding legend or the stupa fields, but of the silhouette of Mount Dalmasan's ridgeline framing the temple like a folding screen. A temple that began with the legend of a boat crossing the sea is now remembered, instead, for the shape of a mountain.