Amarbayasgalant Monastery

The Amarbayasgalant Buddhist Monastery was built during the Manchurian Qin Dynasty in the early eighteenth century as a tomb for Zanabadzar, the head of the Buddhist Sangha in Mongolia.

The monastery is located in amazing places in its beauty. Beautiful and majestic, it stands on the Selenga River, at the foot of a mountain range covered with larch taiga. Translated from the old Mongolian Amarbayasgalant means "serene joy". During the construction by 1737, 14 temples were built inside the monastery, construction continued until 1860.

In 1937, the monastery was ordered destroyed, but all the relics were preserved. The main building was practically not damaged, and, in 1988, the restoration of the monastery began, and its colors still do not tarnish.

The ensemble of the monastery is distinguished by a style unity. All buildings are made in Chinese style with a slight addition of elements of Tibetan architecture. The architectural ensemble of the monastery is headed by the main temple of Tsogchin-Dugan, a large two-storey building of square shape, with a colonnade along the perimeter and seven arched openings on each side.

The interior of the temple and ceiling is distinguished by an exquisite ornament with images of dragons. In addition to the temples in the monastery there is a two-tier bell tower and a drum tower. Six yurt towns are closed in two rings around the monastery. This location of objects resembles a modern city, the center of which is surrounded by microdistricts.

Today, about 60 monks live in the monastery of Amarbayasgalant.