Gandantegchinlen Khiid Monastery
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The Gandantegchinlen Khiid Monastery, formerly known as Ganden Monastery, is a Tibetan-style monastery in the Mongolian capital of Ulaanbaatar that has been restored and revitalized since 1990. The Tibetan name translates to the "Great Place of Complete Joy." It currently has over 150 monks in residence. It features a 26.5-meter-high statue of Migjid Janraisig, a Buddhist bodhisattva also known as Avalokitesvara. It came under state protection in 1994.
The monastery was established in 1835 by the Fifth Jebtsundamba, then Mongolia's highest reincarnated lama. It would become the principal center of Buddhist learning in Mongolia. In the 1930s, the Communist government of Mongolia, under the leadership of Horloogiyn Choybalsan and under strong pressure from Joseph Stalin, destroyed over 700 Mongolian monasteries and massacred over 10,000 Buddhist monks. However, the Gandantegchinlen Khiid monastery escaped this destruction. It was closed in 1938 but reopened in 1944 and allowed to continue as a functioning Buddhist monastery, under a skeleton staff and named Gandan (or Ganden) Monastery, as a token homage to traditional Mongolian culture and religion. With the end of communism in Mongolia in 1990, restrictions on worship were lifted. See Mongolian Buddhism for details.
The original statue, made of copper, was built after appeals to the Mongolian public; its intent was to restore the sight of Bogd Javzandamba (or the eighth Jebtsundamba, also known as Bogda Khan), who had claimed the title of Emperor of Mongolia. The building of the statue was carried out by Bogd Javzandamba's principal minister, Chin Wan Khanddorj. Russian troops dismantled the original statue in 1938. After the end of the Soviet era, the statue of Migjid Janraisig was rebuilt in 1996. It features 2,286 precious stones and gold leaf as adornments.
