Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Gandan Monastery Area
Gandan Khiid
BUDDHIST MONASTERY
(Gandantegchinlen Khiid; Öndör Gegeen Zanabazaryn Gudamj; admission T3500; 8.30am-7pm)
Around the start of the 19th century, more than 100
süm
(temples) and
khiid
(monaster-
ies) served a population of about 50,000 in Urga (the former name of Ulaanbaatar). Only
a handful of these buildings survived the religious purges of 1937. It wasn't until the
early 1990s that the people of Mongolia started to openly practise Buddhism again. This
monastery is one of Mongolia's most important, and also one of its biggest tourist attrac-
tions. The full name, Gandantegchinlen, translates roughly as 'the great place of com-
plete joy'.
Building was started in 1838 by the fourth Bogd Gegeen, but as with most monasteries
in Mongolia, the purges of 1937 fell heavily on Gandan. When the US vice president
Henry Wallace asked to see a monastery during his visit to Mongolia in 1944, Prime
Minister Choibalsan guiltily scrambled to open this one to cover up the fact that he had
recently laid waste to Mongolia's religious heritage. Gandan remained a 'show monas-
tery' for other foreign visitors until 1990, when full religious ceremonies recommenced.
Today more than 600 monks belong to the monastery.
As you enter the main entrance from the south, a path leads towards the right to a
courtyard containing two temples. The northeast building is
Ochidara Temple
(some-
times called Gandan Süm), where the most significant ceremonies are held. As you fol-
low the
kora
(pilgrim) path clockwise around this building, you see a large statue behind
glass of Tsongkhapa, the founder of the Gelugpa sect. The two-storey
Didan- Lavran
Temple
in the courtyard was home to the 13th Dalai Lama during his stay here in 1904
(when he fled Lhasa ahead of a British invasion of Tibet).
At the end of the main path as you enter is the magnificent white
Migjid Janraisig
Süm
, the monastery's main attraction. Lining the walls of the temple are hundreds of im-
ages of Ayush, the Buddha of Longevity, which stare through the gloom to the magnifi-
cent Migjid Janraisig statue.
The original statue was commissioned by the eighth Bogd Khan in 1911, in hopes that
it might restore his eyesight - syphilis had blinded him; however, it was carted away by
Russia in 1937 (it was allegedly melted down to make bullets). The new statue was ded-
icated in 1996 and built with donations from Japan and Nepal. It is 26m high and made
of copper with a gilt gold covering. The hollow statue contains 27 tonnes of medicinal
herbs, 334 Sutras, two million bundles of mantras, plus an entire ger with furniture!
