Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Most of the temples in the monastery are normally closed, so if you want to see any
statues or
thangkas
(scroll paintings), you'll have to find the monks with the keys in the
monks' quarters, the yellow concrete buildings on the right side (east) of the monastery.
The richly decorated main temple,
Tsogchin Dugan
, has a disturbingly life-like, life-
size statue of Rinpoche Gurdava, who was a lama from Inner Mongolia who lived in
Tibet and Nepal before returning to Mongolia in 1992 and raising much of the money for
the temple's restoration. Photography inside the temple seems to be allowed, but unlike
some less-than-respectful local tourists, do not turn your back to the deities.
Ceremonies are usually held at 10am, so arrive early or stay overnight to see them.
A couple of new monuments - a golden Buddhist statue and a stupa - are situated on
the hills behind the monastery. You could continue hiking up the mountains for even bet-
ter views of the valley.
