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Amarbayasgalant Khiid, Amarbayasgalant monasteries, Mongolia, Mongolian monasteries

THE REGIONS OF MONGOLIA

SELENGE AIMAG

AMARBAYASGALANT MONASTERY

The star attraction of Selenge aimag, Amarbayasgalant Khiid (Amarbayasgalant Khiid) is considered the second most important in Mongolia (after Erdene Zuu Khiid in Kharkhorin) and the most intact architectural complex in Mongolia. It is well worth visiting on the way to or from Khovsgol Nuur - or other areas in northern or western Mongolia, but it is difficult to reach. It's probably not worth the effort of coming here all the way from Ulaanbaatar just to see the monastery - you are better off incorporating it into a short three-or-four-day countryside trip to take in the surrounding scenery, or a longer cross-country trip.

Amarbayasgalant Khiid was originally built between 1727 and 1737 by the Manchu emperor Yongzheng, and dedicated to the great Mongolian Buddhist and sculptor, Zanabazar, whose mummified body was moved here in 1779. The monastery is in the Chinese style, down to the inscriptions, symmetrical layout and imperial color scheme.

Photo. Amarbayasgalant Khiid..

Amarbayasgalant monastery is dedicated to Zanabazar's main tutelary deity, Maitreya. Unlike Erdene Zuu Monastery, which is an ensemble of temple halls of different styles, Amarbayasgalant shows great stylistic unity. The overriding style is Chinese, with some Mongol and Tibetan influence. The monastery resembles Yongzheng's own palace Yonghegong in Beijing (converted by his son the Qianlong Emperor into a Buddhist monastery). Originally consisting of over 40 temples, the monastery was laid out in a symmetrical pattern, with the main buildings succeeding one another along a north–south axis, while the secondary buildings are laid out on parallel sides.

The communists found a way out here in the late 1930s, but 'only' destroyed 10 out of the 37 temples and statues, possibly because of sympathetic and procrastinating local military commanders. During the Soviet period, between 1975 and 1990, the temple began to be restored with the help of Unesco. These days, around 50 monks live in the monastery, compared to over 2000 in 1936.