The Erdene Zuu Monastery () is probably the earliest surviving

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

monastery in

Mongolia Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...

. Built in 1585, it is located in

Kharkhorin Kharkhorin () is a town and sum (district) center in Övörkhangai Province in Mongolia. The sum population was 13,828 (1994), 13,964 (2000), and 14,765 (2017). The population of Kharkhorin town itself was 14,765 in 2017 and covered an area of ...

Övörkhangai Province Övörkhangai (; " South Khangai") is one of the 21 aimags (provinces) of Mongolia. Its capital is Arvaikheer. The Shankh Monastery, one of the oldest and most important monasteries, is located in this province, as well as Erdene Zuu monast ...

and is now included within the Orkhon Valley Cultural Landscape

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

. The monastery is affiliated with the

Gelug file:DalaiLama0054 tiny.jpg, 240px, 14th Dalai Lama, The 14th Dalai Lama (center), the most influential figure of the contemporary Gelug tradition, at the 2003 Kalachakra ceremony, Bodh Gaya, Bodhgaya (India) The Gelug (, also Geluk; 'virtuous' ...

sect of

Tibetan Buddhism Tibetan Buddhism is a form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet, Bhutan and Mongolia. It also has a sizable number of adherents in the areas surrounding the Himalayas, including the Indian regions of Ladakh, Gorkhaland Territorial Administration, D ...

History

Abtai Sain Khan, ruler of the

Khalkha Mongols The Khalkha (; ) have been the largest subgroup of the Mongols in modern Mongolia since the 15th century. The Khalkha, together with Chahars, Ordos Mongols, Ordos and Tumed, were directly ruled by Borjigin khans until the 20th century. In cont ...

and grandfather of

Zanabazar Öndör Gegeen Zanabazar (born Eshidorji) was the first '' Jebtsundamba Khutuktu'' and the first ''Bogd Gegeen'' or supreme spiritual authority, of the Gelugpa (Yellow Hat) lineage of Tibetan Mahayana Buddhism in Mongolia. The son of a Mongol ...

, the first

Jebtsundamba Khutuktu The Jebtsundamba Khutuktu; ; "Venerable Excellent incarnate lama" or Khalkha Jetsün Dampa Rinpoche is a title given to the spiritual head of the Gelug lineage of Tibetan Buddhism in Mongolia. They also hold the title of ''Bogd Gegeen'', making ...

, ordered construction of the Erdene Zuu monastery in 1585 after his meeting with the

3rd Dalai Lama The 3rd Dalai Lama, Sonam Gyatso (; 1543–1588), was the first in the tulku lineage to be entitled formally as the Dalai Lama. In 1578 Altan Khan presented the spiritual title of Dalai Lama, in honor of Sonam Gyatso's profound teachings conferre ...

and the declaration of

as the state religion of Mongolia. Stones from the nearby ruins of the ancient Mongol capital of

Karakorum Karakorum (Khalkha Mongolian: Хархорум, ''Kharkhorum''; Mongolian script:, ''Qaraqorum'') was the capital city, capital of the Mongol Empire between 1235 and 1260 and of the Northern Yuan, Northern Yuan dynasty in the late 14th and 1 ...

were used in its construction. Planners attempted to create a surrounding wall that resembled a Tibetan Buddhist rosary featuring 108

stupa In Buddhism, a stupa (, ) is a domed hemispherical structure containing several types of sacred relics, including images, statues, metals, and '' śarīra''—the remains of Buddhist monks or nuns. It is used as a place of pilgrimage and m ...

s (108 being a sacred number in Buddhism), but this objective was probably never achieved. 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

. Locals dismantled the wooden fortifications of the abandoned monastery. According to tradition, in 1745, a local Buddhist disciple named Bunia made several unsuccessful attempts to fly with a device he invented which was similar to a parachute. Erdene-Zuu

In 1939, the communist leader

Khorloogiin Choibalsan Khorloogiin Choibalsan (8 February 1895 – 26 January 1952) was a Mongolian politician who served as the leader of the Mongolian People's Republic as the Prime Minister of Mongolia, chairman of the Council of Ministers (premier) from 1939 unt ...

ordered the monastery destroyed, as part of a political purge that destroyed hundreds of monasteries in Mongolia and killed more than ten thousand monks. Three small temples and the external wall with the stupas survived the initial onslaught. By 1944,

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

pressured Choibalsan to maintain the monastery (along with Gandantegchinlen Monastery in

Ulaanbaatar Ulaanbaatar is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities in Mongolia, most populous city of Mongolia. It has a population of 1.6 million, and it is the coldest capital city in the world by average yearly temperature. The municipa ...

) as a showpiece for international visitors, such as U.S. Vice President Henry Wallace, to prove that the communist regime allowed freedom of religion. In 1947, the temples were converted into museums. For the next four decades, 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. They restored Erdene Zuu as a place of worship. Today, it is an active Buddhist monastery as well as a museum that is open to tourists. On a hill outside the monastery sits a stone

phallus A phallus (: phalli or phalluses) is a penis (especially when erect), an object that resembles a penis, or a mimetic image of an erect penis. In art history, a figure with an erect penis is described as ''ithyphallic''. Any object that symbo ...

called Kharkhorin Rock. The phallus is said to restrain the sexual impulses of the monks and ensure their good behavior.

Gallery

File:Erdene Zuu Monastery 07.jpg, Main gate File:Lavrin Temple 01.jpg, Lavrin Temple File:Złota Stupa w klasztorze Erdene Dzuu 01.jpg, The "Golden Stupa" at Erdene Zuu File:Świątynia Dalajlamy 04.jpg, The Temple of

Dalai Lama The Dalai Lama (, ; ) is the head of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. The term is part of the full title "Holiness Knowing Everything Vajradhara Dalai Lama" (圣识一切瓦齐尔达喇达赖喇嘛) given by Altan Khan, the first Shu ...

File:Gol Zuu Temple 01.jpg, Gol Zuu Temple File:Eastern Zuu Temple 01.jpg, Eastern Zuu Temple File:Stupy w murze klasztoru Erdene Dzuu 04.jpg, Stupas File:Budda Sandżaa w Świątyni Zachodniej w klasztorze Erdene Dzuu (01).jpg, Sanjaa (Buddha Dīpankara) inside Western Temple File:Budda Siakjamuni w Świątyni Zachodniej w klasztorze Erdene Dzuu.jpg, Buddha Sakyamuni inside Western Temple File:Sita Mahakala w Głównej Świątyni w klasztorze Erdene Dzuu.jpg, Sita Mahakala (Gonggor) inside Main Temple File:Budda Amitabha w Głównej Świątyni w klasztorze Erdene Dzuu.jpg, Buddha Amitābha (The Buddha of Immeasurable Life and Light) inside Main Temple File:Budda w swoich młodzieńczych latach w klasztorze Erdene Dzuu.jpg, Buddha in his teenage years inside Eastern Temple File:Erdene Zuu 4.jpg, Stone Turtle near to the Monastery Erdene Zuu File:Phallic Rock1.jpg, Phallic Rock File:Sklep z pamiątkami i muzeum w klasztorze Erdene Dzuu 01.jpg, Gift shop and museum

History

Gallery

Notes

References

External links