Erdene Zuu Monastery

The Buddhist monastery of Erdene Zuu is one of the oldest monuments of Mongolia, located near the city of Harhorin, on the right bank of the Orkhon River. Built in 1585 with the personal funds of Khan Abatai, it became the first religious and cultural center of Mongolia during the Middle Ages.

Closed in 1930, the monastery reopened after a visit by US Vice President Henry Wallace in 1944. In the middle of the XX century, an extensive reconstruction was carried out in the monastery and a museum was equipped.

Today, the monastery is a unique ensemble of several temples, of which only the Lavran temple functions, created in the image of Tibetan architectural structures.

The central figures of the ensemble are three temples, symbolizing the three stages of the life of the Buddha: in the center there is a two-storey temple Ih-Zuu, on the sides there are one-storey temples Barun-Zuu and Zuun-Zuuu.

Also on the territory of the monastery there is a round platform with a diameter of 45 meters, which is called the Square of Happiness and Welfare. Probably the reason for this is the name given by the Dalai Lama III to the monastery in ancient times. It sounds like Lhundubdechenlin, which in Tibetan means "the place of self-emerging great bliss."

Among the relics of Erdene Zuu Monastery, donated by the Dalai Lama to Khan Abathai, there is a statue of Buddha Ihe-Dzu, containing the relics of Buddha Shakyamuni, eight bodhisattvas, seven Buddha doctors and many others.

In 2004, UNESCO declared the monastery a World Heritage Site.