Erdene Zuu Monastery

The Erdene Zuu Monastery (Mongolian: Эрдэнэ Зуу хийд, Chinese:光顯寺, Tibetan:ལྷུན་གྲུབ་བདེ་ཆེན་གླིང་) is probably the earliest surviving Buddhist monastery in Mongolia. Located in Övörkhangai Province, approximately 2 km north-east from the center of Kharkhorin and adjacent to the ancient city of Karakorum, it is part of the Orkhon Valley Cultural Landscape World Heritage Site.[1]The monastery is affiliated with the Gelug sect of Tibetan Buddhism.[2]

Erdene Zuu Monastery
Эрдэнэ Зуу хийд
ལྷུན་གྲུབ་བདེ་ཆེན་གླིང་
光顯寺
Erdene Zuu Monastery
Religion
AffiliationTibetan Buddhism
SectSakya
Location
LocationNear Kharkhorin, Övörkhangai Province, Mongolia
CountryMongolia
Location within Mongolia
Geographic coordinates47°12′06″N 102°50′36″E
Architecture
FounderAbtai Sain Khan
Date established1585

History

Abtai Sain Khan, ruler of the Khalkha Mongols and grandfather of Zanabazar, the first Jebtsundamba Khutuktu, ordered construction of the Erdene Zuu monastery in 1585 after his meeting with the 3rd Dalai Lama and the declaration of Tibetan Buddhism as the state religion of Mongolia.[3] Stones from the nearby ruins of the ancient Mongol capital of Karakorum were used in its construction.[4] Planners attempted to create a surrounding wall that resembled a Tibetan Buddhist rosary featuring 108 stupas (108 being a sacred number in Buddhism),[5] but this objective was probably never achieved.[6] The monastery's temple walls were painted, and the Chinese-style roof covered with green tiles.

The monastery was damaged in 1688 during one of the many wars between Dzungars and Khalkha Mongols. Locals dismantled the wooden fortifications of the abandoned monastery.[7] It was rebuilt in the 18th century and by 1872 had a full 62 temples and housed up to 1000 monks.

According to tradition, in 1745 a local Buddhist disciple named Bunia made several unsuccessful attempts to fly with a device he invented similar to parachute.[7]

Erdene Zuu Monastery

In 1939 the Communist leader Khorloogiin Choibalsan ordered the monastery destroyed, as part of a purge[8] that obliterated hundreds of monasteries in Mongolia and killed over ten thousand monks.[9][10] Three small temples and the external wall with the stupas survived the initial onslaught and by 1944 Joseph Stalin pressured Choibalsan to maintain the monastery (along with Gandantegchinlen Monastery in Ulaanbaatar) as a showpiece for international visitors, such as U.S. Vice President Henry Wallace, to prove that the communist regime allowed freedom of religion.[11] In 1947 the temples were converted into museums and for the four decades that followed Gandantegchinlen Khiid Monastery became Mongolia's only functioning monastery.

After the fall of Communism in Mongolia in 1990, the monastery was turned over to the lamas and Erdene Zuu again became a place of worship. Today Erdene Zuu remains an active Buddhist monastery as well as a museum that is open to tourists.

On a hill outside the monastery sits a stone phallus called Kharkhorin Rock. The phallus is said to restrain the sexual impulses of the monks and ensure their good behavior.[12]

  • A view of the outer wall
  • Laviran Temple at Erdene Zuu monastery.
  • A Buddha at the monastery
  • Temple at Erdene Zuu monastery
  • The "Golden Stupa" at Erdene Zuu
  • Stone Turtle near to the Monastery Erdene Zuu
  • Temple at Erdene Zuu
  • The Temple of Dalai Lama
  • Erdene Zuu
  • Erdene Zuu
  • Erdene Zuu buildings
  • Stupas
  • Sanjaa (Buddha Dīpankara) inside Western Temple
  • Buddha Sakyamuni inside Western Temple
  • Sita Mahakala (Gonggor) inside Main Temple
  • Buddha Amitābha (The Buddha of Immeasurable Life and Light) inside Main Temple
  • Buddha in his teenage years inside Eastern Temple
  • Phallic Rock
  • Monastery
  • Gift shop and museum
  • Erdene Zuu
gollark: Yes it is. I just can't really be bothered.
gollark: I just feared that it might be bad in case of a damaged file.
gollark: It does actually do this when unpacking, yes.
gollark: LMDB is quite fast, right?
gollark: Hey, maybe I could use LMDB!

References
  1. "Orkhon Valley Cultural Landscape". Retrieved 12 March 2013.
  2. Ye, Luhua; Ren, Jiyu (2006). 佛教史. Nanjing: 江苏人民出版社. ISBN 9787214041364.
  3. "Erdene Zuu Monastery". Culture Mongolia. Archived from the original on 2007-04-06. Retrieved 2007-03-12.
  4. "Karakorum". Culture Mongolia. Archived from the original on 2007-04-06. Retrieved 2007-03-12.
  5. Snipe, Lynn "Jnana". "Buddhism in the Numbers". Urban Dharma. Retrieved 2007-03-12.
  6. Niels Gutschow, Andreas Brandt, Die Baugeschichte der Klosteranlage von Erdeni Joo (Erdenezuu), in Claudius Müller (ed.), Dschingis Khan und seine Erben, Bonn 2005, p.353
  7. "Erdene Zuu monastery". Wondermondo.
  8. http://www.ciaonet.org/atlas/countries/mn_data_loc.html#a6
  9. "Dalai Lama's visit shines spotlight on Mongolia's explosion of faiths". USA Todays.com. 2006-08-24. Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2007-03-12.
  10. "Terror Years". Issue 6. Mongolia Today. Archived from the original on 2007-06-07. Retrieved 2007-03-12.
  11. Kollmar-Paulenz, Karénina (2003). "Buddhism in Mongolia After 1990". Journal of Global Buddhism. 4: 18–34. ISSN 1527-6457. Archived from the original on 2007-05-31. Retrieved 2007-03-12.
  12. "Kharakhorum (Karakorum)". Sights of Interest in Mongolia. Legend Tour. Archived from the original on June 4, 2008. Retrieved 2007-03-12.
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