Amarbayasgalant Monastery
| Amarbayasgalant Monastery | |
|---|---|
 Amarbayasgalant Monastery, Mongolia | |
| Religion | |
| Affiliation | Tibetan Buddhism |
| Location | |
| Location | Mount Büren-Khaan, Baruunbüren Sum, Selenge Province, Mongolia |
| Country | China |
| Architecture | |
| Style | Chinese, Mongol and Tibetan influences |
| Date established | 1727 |
The Monastery of Tranquil Felicity (Mongolian: Амарбаясгалант хийд, Mongolian script: Amurbayasqulangtu keyid, Manchu: Urgun Elhe Sy, Chinese: 慶寧寺) once one of the three largest Buddhist centres in Mongolia is located near the Selenge River in the Iven Valley, at the foot of Mount Büren-Khaan in Baruunbüren sum (district) of Selenge Province in northern Mongolia. The nearest town is Erdenet which is about 60 km to the southwest.
The architectural design belongs to G. Zanabazar and the monastery itself was built to honour the memory of him. Looking for a site for building, the exploratory group met two boys, Amur and Bayasqulangtu, playing in a steppe, and decided to build the future monastery at that site and name the monastery after those children.
Built between 1727 and 1736, it is one of the very few monasteries to have partly escaped the destruction of 1937, after which only the buildings of the central section remained. The entire contents: the tankas, statues and manuscripts were looted by the Communists or hidden until more fortunate times. Restoration work began in 1988 and some of the new deities were commissioned in Delhi, India.
The monastery was originally built to house the remains of Zanabazar, the first Bogd Gegeen, the "August light". Unlike the Erdene Zuu monastery, which is composed of an ensemble of temple halls of different styles, Amarbayasgalant shows great stylistic unity. The overall style is Chinese, despite some Mongol and Tibetan influence. The plan is symmetrical and the main buildings succeed one another along a North-South axis, while the secondary buildings are laid out on parallel side axes.
External links
Media related to Amarbayasgalant Monastery at Wikimedia Commons
49°28′48″N 105°05′06″E / 49.48000°N 105.08500°E
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