Amarbayasgalant Khiid

Introducing Amarbayasgalant Khiid

The star attraction of Selenge aimag, this monastery is considered to be one of the top three Buddhist institutions in Mongolia (along with Erdene Zuu in Kharkhorin and Gandan in Ulaanbaatar) and the country’s most intact architectural complex. It is well worth visiting on the way to/from Khövsgöl Nuur, or other areas in northern or western Mongolia. Otherwise, you are better off incorporating the monastery into a three- or four-day countryside trip to take in the surrounding scenery.

Amarbayasgalant Khiid (www.amarbayasgalant.org; GPS: N49° 28.648’, E105° 05.122’) 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 Manchu style, down to the inscriptions, symmetrical layout and imperial colour scheme.

The communists moseyed in around 1937, but ‘only’ destroyed 10 out of the 37 temples and statues, possibly because of sympathetic and procrastinating local military commanders. The monastery was extensively restored between 1975 and 1990 with the help of Unesco. These days about 30 monks live in the monastery, compared with more than 2000 in 1936.

The temples in the monastery are normally closed, so you’ll have to ask the monks to find the keys and open them up if you want to see any statues or thangka (scroll paintings). There are around nine temples open to tourists.

To the west of the complex you’ll find eight new stupas and a meditation centre (you can see it from Amarbayasgalant). It takes about two hours to hike there.

The main hall has a life-size statue of Rinpoche Gurdava, 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. It’s normally possible to climb up to the roof for fine views of the valley.

To help with the restoration work, foreigners are charged an entry fee of T3000. Ceremonies are usually held twice a day at 9am and 4pm.

Travellers have raved about the scenery of the mountain range Bürengiin Nuruu, north of Amarbayasgalant.

Last updated: Feb 17, 2009