The Amarbayasgalant Monastery or "monastery of tranquil felicity", 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 Buren-Khaan.

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

• Amarbayasgalant Monastery Site

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