Dogapsa Temple is said to have been founded by the eminent late-Unified-Silla monk Doseon (827–898). Today the temple is organized as a branch temple (malsa) of Daeheungsa Temple in Haenam, the head temple of its diocese in the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism.
The temple's scale expanded dramatically once the Joseon dynasty began. In 1456 (the second year of King Sejo's reign), the monks Sinmi and Sumi undertook a major reconstruction of Dogapsa, transforming it into a sprawling complex spanning some 966 rooms. A temple that began as a small temple at the end of the Silla period had, over roughly five centuries, become a grand temple in its own right, commanding its own stature. Today, standing at the foot of Mount Wolchulsan, Dogapsa carries this history of expansion within it, remaining, alongside the name of its founder Master Doseon, one of the region's foremost Buddhist heritage sites.