Гандантэгчинлэн хийд

When I traveled to Mongolia to speak at the National University of Mongolia, one of my Mongolian friends took me to Gandantegchinlen Monastery–a Tibetan Buddhist monastery in Ulaanbaatar. Together, we spent an entire morning listening to the meditative chanting of the monks, and admiring the beautiful Buddhist art displayed in temples on the monastery grounds.

The Tibetan name of this restored monastery is “Great Place of Complete Joy.” It is one of the few Buddhist monasteries in Mongolia that survived the mass destruction of religious buildings in the communist period. At a time when monasteries, monks, and religious art were being ruthlessly purged, this monastery served as a “show monastery” for visiting foreign dignitaries.

Inside the monastery is a towering 26.5-meter-high gilded copper statue of Avalokitesvara, and next to the monastery is the Öndör Gegeen Zanabazar Buddhist University–established in 1970. You can view the Gandantegchinlen Monastery from on high in the beginning of the video below…