MONGOL DESTINATION

- Brief history
- Secret history of Mongols
- Religion in Mongolia
- Nomads
- Traditional dwelling
- Traditional clothes
- Traditional Mongolian food
- Traditional music & song
- Visual art
- Unique tangkas
- Toys and games
- Eagle hunting festivals
- Ovoo-worship
- Naadam
- Tsagaan Sar
- Museums in Ulaanbaatar

Mongolian brief history (Go to top)

Mongolia's history is extremely long; it spans over 5,000. "The Mongols has little inclination to ally with other nomadic peoples of northern Asia and, until the end of the 12th century, the Mongols were little more than a loose confederation of rival clans, it was in the late 12th century that a 20-year-old Mongol named Temujin emerged and managed to unite most of the Mongol tribes. In 1189 he was given the honorary name of Chinggis Khan, meaning 'Universal King'. No Mongolian leader before or since has united the Mongolians so effectively."
Manchu controlled Mongolia from the year 1691 to 1911. Thanks to the fall of the Manchu dynasty that controlled stopped. A group of Mongol princes "proclaimed" the living Buddha of Urga to be ruler. "Mongolians have always taken wholeheartedly to Tibetan Buddhism and the links between Mongolia and Tibet are old and deep." In 1921 there were 110,000 lamas or monks in Mongolia living in 700 monasteries. In the 1930s thousands of monks were arrested. Some believed that by the year 1939 3% of Mongolia's population, at the time, was executed or out of 27,000; 17,000 were monks.
In the year 1990 the freedom of religion returned. Since then a revival of Buddhism and other religions has occurred. Mongolia won its independence in 1911. In 1921 the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party government started. "When the last living Buddha died in 1924(“with the rise of Tibetan Buddhism in the 16th century, a living Buddha would be named"), the Mongolian People's Republic was established." It took 22 years for China to recognize this. All subsequent Mongolian texts were written in script until Stalin forcibly replaced it with Russian Cyrillic in the 1940s. The text was written in scripts named SECRET HISTORY scripts. Since 1944 the Russian Cyrillic alphabet has been used to write Mongolian.
A new constitution came into force in 1960, and Mongolia was admitted to the United Nations in 1961. Mongolia traditionally supported the Soviet Union. In January 1992 the president of Mongolia, P. Ochirbat institutes a new constitution. "In 1993, Boris Yeltsin, Russia's president and Ochirbat signed a new treaty." Also Ochirbat was reelected in 1993.
In the 1980s Mongolia fell in control of J. Batmonkh, decentralize heartened by the Soviet reforms under Mikhail Gorbachev. "By the late 1980s, relations with China even started to thaw and full diplomatic relations were established in 1989. »In March 1990, large pro-democracy protests erupted in the square in front of the parliament building in Ulaanbaatar and hunger strikes were held." Also lots of things happened at a rapid paste around that same month. Some of which are: Batmonkh lost power; new political parties sprang up; and hunger strikes and protests continued. In May Mongolia was awarded from the government to have multiparty election in June 1990. The communists won the elections. In the first half of the year 1996 Mongolia was "beset" by wild fires that raged for more than three months and lost 41,000 sq mi (106,000 sq km) of forest and rangeland. In the year 1997 Ochirbat lost the election because of the economy. In the year 2000 the elections resulted in nearly a total win for the MPRP. In fact the total amount of seats won by the MPRP was 95%.

"Secret History of the Mongols" (Go to top)
Mongoliin Nuuts Tovchoo (Secret History of the Mongols) is an outstanding historical, cultural and literary monument written by an unknown author around 1240. Belong to the world heritage of literary treasures; its 750 years anniversary was celebrated in 1990 under UNESCO aegis. The Secret History of the Mongols is an honest, sincere account depicting Chinggis Khan without embellishment or laudation. The book is not apology for bloody military campaigns or the appraisal of conquerors' ambitions. Written in poetry the epic is a combination of historical narration, folklore and old poetry. Its artistic merits remain unsurpassed but real fame and world renown still await this outstanding work as the existing translations into main languages are purely scientific and do not make for easy reading.


Religion in Mongolia (Go to top)
Yellow headed Buddhism began to enter into Mongolia from Tibet the second half of the 16th century. Since that time mostly Mongolians believe Buddhism. But Mongolian Buddhism is different from Tibetan Buddhism. Mongolian Buddhism connected with Mongolian traditional lifestyle. Before 1930 40% of male population was lamas (monks). Between the communist purges 1930-1940 Russian and Mongolian soldiers destroyed about 700 monasteries and temples. Until in 1990 any religion closed in Mongolia. After democratic movement in 1990 all religion reopened. In 2002, there are about 180 religious temples and churches operating in Mongolia and more than 110 Buddhist monasteries and temples and about 70 Christian churches in Mongolia.
Buddhism: Buddhism in the form of the yellow hat Buddhism or Lamaism making further inroads into Mongolia from the second half of the 16th century. According to the Mongolia Buddhist doctrine, it is said that the sky father blessed the entire world and that there is one who could say, I am an owner of the world' Buddhism teaches the ‘nature of reason' and that if good deeds are done, they will have good results. Similarly if bad deeds are done, they will have bad results. Buddhism preaches about these as ‘ten black deed sins' and ‘ten white deeds'. Sins are divided into deeds which are made with the body with speech or with the mind through thoughts. Sins made with thoughts include thinking about bad things having evil thoughts, corruption, intentionally or purposely doing a crime, planning aggressive war, and so forth.
It is said that Buddhism believes that thought is thing prior to both body and speech. They consider evil thoughts the result of numerous sufferings and unavoidable accidents and misfortune. The term used for such negative feelings is Nirvanas (greed, anger, opposed, ideology). Buddhism argues that if we can systematically remove these strong desires or greed from the mind we can become wholly enlightened people. With enlightenment, thoughts will become pure and clean and reach to the height of bliss.
Buddhism also teaches that if the people show their mercy in letting an animal live, they will gain merit in their future lives.

Nomads (Go to top)
There has been very little change in the way of living of Mongolian nomads for several hundred years. Their ancestors inhabited a huge area of Central Asian steppe and mountain steppe, moving from one place to other seeking better pastures for their animals since whenever they started to exist, through the Huns dynasty in 200 BC, Chinggis Khan’s Mongol Empire in the 13th century and even after the socialist revolution in the 1920's.
Nomads represent approximately half of Mongolian population. They mostly live tens of miles away from any communities, villages and towns and do rather rough lives in a common condition where they are unable to be provided with electricity. It takes a couple of weeks for them to get current editions of national and local newspapers. The only reliable information source seems to be radios charged with batteries, which can be found in almost every nomadic family.
The extreme climate and geography as well as the landlocked condition greatly influenced the Mongols wax of life that has always lived close to the animals and close to the steppes. The Mongolian nomads are often called 'five animal people', because the nomadic society is based on the five principal animals traditionally herded: horses, camels, cattle, sheep and goats. They also keep Tibetan yaks used for producing milk and cheese.

Ger, Mongolian traditional dwelling (Go to top)
The nomads have developed a circular felt-covered dwelling, the ger (or yurt in Turkish language), adapted to the difficult conditions of their daily life (cold, wind, sun) and easy to be moved as can be raised and dismantled in thirty to sixty minutes.
Ancient gers were not collapsible and had to be wheeled from one location to the next sometimes pulled by up to 22 yaks. But nomads need to move across the country in all four seasons. So gers that could be packed onto the back of their livestock were designed and are still used.
The Mongolian ger has to key components: the wooden frame work and the felt cover, the wooden framework is known as ‘khana’, the central support columns as ‘uni’, the smoke hole is ‘toono’. Eighty – eight separate wooden poles each measuring around 1, 5 meters are used for the ger frame, with just too central columns supporting the entire structure.
Once the framework has been erected it is covered with felt and mounted onto a wooden floor sometimes the ger goes directly on the ground, and then overlaid with felt. The door is always on the southern side facing the sun, providing more light inside windowless home.
The average ger is divided into three areas. There are male and female sections and northern (khoimor) area at the rear of the ger. The male area is on western or left side of the ger. Here are man keeps his bridles and airag. Women traditionally have the eastern side of a ger, where they keep kitchen utensils, their own and children’s belongings. It is customary for a man entering a ger to step the western side and a women to the east.
The khoimor, which is directly opposite the door, is where valuable objects are stored or displayed, as well as a small Buddhist shine. Most families also keep a collage of photographs of relatives and close friends
at the back of the ger. This is the most important part of the ger and guests are often invited to sit at the khoimor. The two central columns are the only things propping up the whole structure and no matter how many people are in ger no one ever leans against either of the support columns. This is considered very bad form.
It's around shape keeps the Ger. resilient to Mongolia’s ferocious winds, while it felt is rapidly drying material for when it rains or snow melts.

Mongolian traditional clothes (Go to top)
The dress of Mongolian people displays national peculiarities being very much suited to the cattle-breeders' nomadic way of life, economic features and the country's natural climatic conditions.
Historical sources give evidence of many kinds of dress that Mongolians used to wear. For example, during the Mongolian empire period, married women wore original hats called "Bogtoga", which were very tall and slender, and made out of wood-bark. They were covered with silk, which was decorated with valuable pearls, precious stones and feathers on top. Archaeological findings revealed many kinds of hats like these. The Mongolian del or robe was quite different from those of today. Del is a general term for traditional Mongolian coats, which resemble the Japanese kimono. According to scholars, the del almost reached the ankles and had no collar, simply wrapping across sideways. This ancient form of collar still persists among lamas' costumes and some winter de/ made of wool and fur. The de/ was fastened together by a leather belt decorated with various kinds of metals. Sometimes pure gold, as proved by archaeological evidence. The forms of belts, hats and other clothing of that period can be observed more clearly from the statues of the time.
Although some details changed throughout history, the national costume retained its original style until the beginning of the 20th century.
Mongolian costumes differ in shape and purpose. There were everyday costumes for men and women, for summer and winter, as well as special clothes for holidays and ceremonies. In olden times the Mongols had a great variety of street-clothes, head –gear and ornaments. The way a person was dressed showed to what ethnic or social group he belonged. The rules for wearing each style of dress were dictated by ancient traditions and customs.
The details of the married woman's costume are interesting and significant. Costumes and ornaments of married women in the western, central, and eastern parts of the country differed from each other. The wives wore a "uuji" (something like a long waistcoat without sleeves) over the traditional del. Women from western Mongolia had the privilege of having a large white collar on the de/ and their costumes were very free and loose. But the women of central and eastern Mongolia wore a del with high shoulders and the collar, hem and sleeves were decorated with intricate designs. Great attention was paid to the ornamentation of the head-dress. In the older days it was believed that the hairstyle should resemble the wings of an eagle. Women wore their hair smoothly combed back and an artificial string was glued to the front of the taruur, on both sides of which hung pendants made of strings or pearls. They pinned their hair with silver hair grips and slides in winter. Mongolian men usually wore del made out of sheep or lamb's skins, as well as lynx, sable and fox pelts. In summer, men preferred del of different colored cotton fabrics.
The Mongolians wore many kinds of hats in all seasons of the year. Both men and women wore hats decorated with fur: sable, silver fox, red fox and others.
In summer the Mongols wore both malgai hat (made of plush with a velvet upturned brim and pointed crown) and top hat (tortsog) consisting of six gores. Mongolian boots are the same for men and women but they vary from one ethnic group to another. There are many kinds of boots, called mongol, tookuu, kanchin, buriat etc. and some of them are worn even today.
Today, especially in the city, Mongols prefer to wear European dress. The national costumes of the small ethnic groups of the past are almost forgotten now, and the clothes of Central Mongolia are most popular.

Mongolian traditional food (Go to top)
Mongolian traditional food and beverage:
Dairy products called “tsagaan idee” it is differ greatly about in variety and taste and include milk, which is regarded as symbol of unselfishness, purity and kindness, urum (a thick layer of cream), Mongolian butter, aaruul (dried curd), and a soft of kefir yogurt .
Aaruul: Specialists believe that aaruul is one of the factors responsible for the Mongol's strong and healthy teeth. Aaruul is curdled milk, dehydrated and thoroughly dried in the air and sun. The remarkable thing is that there is practically no limit to it's slowly life.
Airag. Airag is Mongolian traditional drink made from June to September. 4000-5000 times bit it in cow' skin bag. (Leader bag) Mongolian people are using airag as daily drink and for special occasions. Airag has included 7-8% of alcohol. Airag is Mongolian respect and safely drink so you never allowed spitting and dropping it outside. Airag gives strength and cheerfulness and it destroys pathogenic microbes in the intestines and helps improve the living body metabolisms.
Boodog: commonly used in marmot and coat involves removing the bones( and bowels from the skinned carcass through the neck red hot stones are put inside the carcass closed and the neck opening. Then the carcass is barbecued. The meat roasted this way is tender tasty and fragrant. )innards of the animal, whilst leaving the meat bones and skin intact, then placing red hot stones inside the body of the animal to cook the meat sometimes inside the boodog may you make vegetables and some pepper and salt.
The other main highlight of Mongolian cuisine is Khorkhog, which is made by placing hot stones from the fire into a pot or milk urn with chopped sheep, some water and sometimes vodka and then sealing the pot and putting it on the fire. When eating both boodog and khorkhog, it is customary to pass the hot greasy rocks from hand to hand, as this thought to be good for your health.
Milk tea. May you visit Mongolian nomadic family first they’ll serve you a cup of milk tea. Every family prefers milk tea by their own taste, tea with salt or without. Green tea is used for boiling the tea.
Borts dried meat: the Mongolian nomadic way of life and the countries climatic conditions has give rise to specific methods of preserving meat. The most widespread one is air –drying or bortsloh. Meat is c0 into long strips which are hung in the shade. The meat dries during the winter, becoming so hard that you can not cut it with a knife. Before using the dried meat it is powdered for cooking. The borts is used during summer time.


Traditional music & songs (Go to top)

Long song
Another unique traditional singing style is known as Urtiin duu, or long song. It's one of the oldest genres of Mongolian musical art, dating to the 13th century. Urtiin duu involves extraordinarily complicated, drawn-out vocal sounds. It is evocative of vast, wide spaces and it demands great skill and talent from the singers in their breathing abilities and guttural singing techniques.
Long songs relate traditional stories about the beauty of the native land and daily life, to which Mongolians offer blessings.

Mongol Hoomii
Mongol hoomii - Diaphonic song (over tone singing) involves producing two simultaneous tones with the human voice. It is a difficult skill requiring special ways of breathing. One tone comes out as a whistle-like sound, the result of locked breath in the chest being forced out through the throat in a specific way, while a lower tone sounds as a base. Hoomii is considered musical art - not exactly singing, but using one's throat as an instrument. Khoomii is linked to shamanism and is characterizes by the production of sounds imitating those of nature; the soft noise of the wind cascades and rivers and birds songs are just a few.

Morin khuur
Perhaps the most ancient musical instrument of the Mongols is the "morin-khuur", invented at least a thousand years ago. In Mongolian, morin means horse, and khuur means sound, rhyme, melody.
This instrument's history is based on a legend of a man who had a beloved, magical horse that could fly. When an evil man killed the horse, the man made an instrument from the horse so that he could remember it. Originally, the handle of the horse-head fiddle was made of horse ribs and its base was horse skin.
Today, the long tail hair of a horse ridden since childhood is used for the strings. It is said each tail hair fiber should be processed until it "starts talking". To honor the horse, its head is carved of wood and placed where the scroll would be on a violin. The wooden neck and the sound box of the instrument are sometimes decorated by the five elements and the horoscope animals of the Buddhist 12-year calendar, and the symbol of eternity is depicted on the sides of the box. The tone of the morin khuur is tender and slightly languorous.

Tsam-Religious Dance
The ancient religious mask dance, or Tsam, is a significant religious ritual which reflects Buddhist teachings through images. It is a theatrical art performed by skilled dancers wearing magnificently ornamented costumes, which represent characters of different holy figures and devils, animals, and people.
Through story, music, and dance, the wide range of personalities of the characters are depicted. To symbolize positive and negative attributes, characters from popular stories, and animals such as the Khangarid (lord of flies), lion (the king of wild animal), stag (the beauty among animals), crow (the soothsayer) and various domestic animals are imitated. Furthermore, the colors and decoration of the costumes are clues as to the nature of the personalities of the characters.
The Tsam dance ceremony was first introduced to Mongolia in the 8th century, when the famous Indian Saint Lovon Badamjunai was invited to Mongolia to sanctify the construction of the first Tibetan Buddhist temple, Samya. From that time, the Tsam dance was performed following the traditional teaching of Nyambdeyan, and during the 16th century, it became popular in Dash-Lhum temple Uigien Namjra and other places. Eventually, more than 500 monasteries of the 700 Mongolian monasteries had their own local variations of the ceremony. Nowadays Tsam mask dancing is performed once a year at the Dashchoilin Monastery in Ulaanbaatar.

Mongolian Fine Art (Go to top)
The Mongolian fine art probably started when the first men from the Stone Age drew the first picture on the walls pf a cave.
The Mongolian fine art is connected with the central Asian fine art. The Mongolians used mostly paints and materials of natural or animal origin: animal skin, felt, wool, bones, horns and other natural items. G. Zanabazar, the direct descendant of Chinggis Khan, the first Mongolian Bogd, and the most famous sculptor of the 17th century, occupies special position in the history of Mongolian art. Zanabazar is referred to as the most prominent figure of the Mongolian Renaissance. He left a rich legacy of bronze sculptures and paintings, some of which are featured in the Fine Arts Museum.
Torgon Urlag or Appliques is another kind of painting developed in Mongolia and has been perfected for many centuries from the times of the Huns. It has got a specific design, combination of colors and way of painting. Natural paints made of gold, silver coral; turquoise, pearl, bronze copper and other minerals were used for Torgon Urlag. Besides trogon urlag, religious scroll painting (thangka) was widely developed in Mongolia.
Mongol zurag is a distinct style of painting that has accumulated many centuries of rich experience of Mongolian artists. The most renowned painter of Mongol Zurag School is B. Sharav. “One day in Mongolia” is his most famous painting, depicting every aspect of nomadic people’s life in Mongolia in a light humorist way.

Mongolian toys and games (Go to top)
Mongolian traditional games can be divided into 2 general types on the basis of their general form; games which are played using simple and readily-available materials such s stones sticks, or animal bones and games which are played using objects created by the artistic means; namely with painted or carved pieces. The games of the one category are characterized by a close figurative connection with nature and the herding lifestyle, often having a ritual of symbolic element to their playing & by a relative simplicity of their rules of play. The games of the latter category- which include cards, chess dominoes and interlocking puzzles –are symbolically associated with social and artistic activities and are usually more sophisticated requiring greater intellectual skill in their playing. The most unique Mongolian game is shagai or anklebones, which as the name suggests, is played using the cleaned and polished anklebones of sheep and goat. Each of the four sides of the anklebone represents different animals; horse, sheep, camel, goat, although there are many games which can be played with the bones. In earlier times, families which managed to collect more anklebones than they needed would select an auspicious day and go to play the game of “multicolored turtle” on the top of a mountain leaving the bones afterwards as an offering to the mountain or to the sky. This game is played with a number of bones corresponding to one of the auspicious number in the Buddhist faith- most often 81 or 108. The placement of the bones represents the five elements and colors in addition to the body of the turtle itself, which is viewed in traditional Mongolian iconography as the symbol of the cosmos players, take bones from different parts of the turtle or surrounding five elements on each turn corresponding to the throw of a die. Once the players have collected all the parts of the turtle's body the game concludes with the player in possession of the most bones the winner. One of the common games played with shagai is the “horse race” for 2 or more players. Games played using carved or painted pieces include cards, chess, dominoes and khorol (a game similar to dominoes, using the 12 animals of the zodiac and Buddhist symbols). Of these games chess remains one of the most popular as well as one of the oldest traditional games some Mongolian scholars claim that chess sets characteristically depict nobles, horses, camels, oxcarts and other identifiable elements of Mongolian life. Mongolian chess is more similar to the European than the Chinese version of the game, but there are several important differences in the rules for example: only the pawn in front of the Queen is only permitted to move one space at a time when moving diagonal.

Eagle Hunting Festival (Go to top)
After the liberalization of 1990, the tradition of eagle hunting, somewhat downplayed during the socialism, has been revived and now the local Berkut Association counts more than 200 members.
For last few years Bayan Ulgii Kazakhs held in early October the Eagle Hunting Festival, a colorful and picturesque event attracting the best hunters and birds, and an important celebration for the local community.
The festival begins with each hunter displaying the hunting outfits and elaborate, beautifully adorned accessories. Later, the hunting eagles are evaluated for their skills. The eagles are released from a rock cliff, while their owners stand below and signal for them to land upon their arms, as they do during hunting. Those with the fastest times and best technique are awarded the highest scores.
In addition to the eagle hunting contests, the participants play such traditional Kazakh games known as kekbar. Two teams compete to pass a goat skin over to their side of the field and the winner throws the skin onto the ger of his choice and this family is expected to host a party for everyone.
The events ends in grand dostarkhan or a party at which the winners are toasted and great hunting tales are shared.
This event represents the very essence of the culture of nomadic Kazakhs.

Ovoo Worship (Go to top)
Ovoo- worship ceremony originates from Mongolian’s traditional respect and worship of nature. It has probably been held for thousands of years in Mongolia. You will see ovoo in any part of the country wherever you go. An ovoo is pyramid shaped pile of stones, bones, woods and some other stuff placed on the top of a hill or mountain. Ovoos are sacred, and whenever you go by an ovoo you should walk around it three times to pray and make a wish.
At the ovoo worship ceremony generous offerings in the form of milk, cheese and/or other dairy products are made, and then people ask spirits for peace, happiness, and plentiful natural riches.

Naadam Festival (Go to top)
Naadam festival, celebrated each summer, organized since many centuries ago as a test of courage, strength, daring, horsemanship and marksmanship, all necessary for nomadic people and warriors.
The largest celebration is held in Ulaanbaatar starting from on July 11 for 3 days. Mongolian wrestling contests at Naadam,
Involving over 500 contestants are an exciting spectacle. As there are no weights classes and 16 contests are held simultaneously, the competition progresses quickly. Before the contest wrestlers perform eagle dances to limber up and display their fine physiques. Each wrestler has a second who acts as a coach and herald to announce his charge's heroic deeds.
Archery contest has inherited a tradition dating from the time of Chingis Khan when they were intended to sharpen military skills. Men fire 40 arrows made from willow branches and griffin vulture feathers from a distance of 75 meters and woman deliver 20 arrows from 60 meters
at a target consisting of 360 leather rings fitted to a wall. In accordance with ancient custom, several men stand on either side of the target singing a folk song (uuhai) to clear the contestants and then use hand signals to indicate the results.
Horseracing is the favorite sport of the herdsmen who bring their best horses from great distances. Races, which take place on the steppe over distance from 15 to 30 km, are a test of endurance for the horses and riders, boys and girls, some as young as six years old. The races are organized according to the age of the horses. Mare's milk is poured over the heads of the winning horses that are also honored with songs.

Tsagaan Sar (Go to top)
For more than 2000 years Mongols have been celebrating New Year according to lunar calendar. Each year of the 12 years cycle of the Lunar Calendar is named after one of twelve animals: Mouse, Bull, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake Horse, Ram, Monkey, Cock, Dog and Pig.
Still now, Mongolian New Year is a nation-wide holiday celebrated as a greeting of the end of severe winter and beginning of spring time, when nature and people awaken and are inspired for new life and deeds. After a month of preparation Mongols celebrate Tsagaan Sar with three days of feasting with their families. Tables literally drown with food. Families traditionally kill the fattest sheep in the flock and then display the boiled lower back and tail throughout the holiday. In addition there are a great variety of milk product, and buuz (beef and mutton dumplings).
Mongolians are very hospitable people. Visitors are expected to try every dish and tip a few glasses with the host. Toasts are usually made with mare's milk wine (airag) or arkhi distilled from fermented cow's milk. The celebration is followed by sports competitions, traditional song festivals and other events. At this time monasteries are full of people, usually wearing new dels.

MUSEUMS OF ULAANBAATAR (Go to top)
Natural History Museum
Here you will get an overview of the geography, flora and fauna of Mongolia. Of special interest is an outstanding collection of dinosaur bones, which were found in the Gobi Desert. First sensational discovery of dinosaur bones were made by the expedition of adventurous American, Roy Chapman Andrews back in 20s. Since then, expeditions from Russia, Poland and recently from the USA and Japan are coming regularly. The museum is located just across the street from the Government House.

National History Museum
Set up recently, the museum occupies the building of the former Museum of Revolution. The museum offers the richest collection on the History of Mongolia, from Stone Age to modern times. It allows retrospection the unique culture of horse riding steppe nomads and their lifestyle. The exhibition contains many artifacts of traditional handicrafts and arts, military equipment and arms of Chinggis Khan Warriors. The museum is located on the corner of the downtown Suhbaatar Square.

Gandan Monastery
Built in 1840, it is the most important monastery in Mongolia. It is easily seen north west of the city center. In the past it was one of the main Buddhist centers in Asia having two dozens of chapels and famous for its library collection of religious documents and the typography.
The monastery was severely damaged during the repression of 30s and only few building remained among them a chapel for 20 meters high statue of Megzhid Janraisig god erected in 1911 as a symbol commemorating the Mongolia's independence. During the WW II the statue was taken to Russia to be used as scrap metal for shells. In 1990 the statue was rebuilt with nation wide donations.
Have a $ 5.00 bill ready if you would like to take picture of this restored statue. The Gandan Monastery is the central place for major religious ceremonies and festivities, including Tsam Dance, a theatralized performance. The monastery has presently about 150 monks and a Buddhist School.

Fine Arts Museum
This museum is dedicated to paintings, religious arts and artifacts. You will find a wonderful collection of archeological artifacts from Hun period (III-II centuries BC) and panel embroidery.
It houses the largest tanka scroll (Buddhist embroidery tapestry) in Mongolia, but the museum premises are not spacious enough to display this 36 meters long tanka. The museum also has two unique Tsam Dance masks lavishly decorated with 15,000 and 5,000 pieces of deep purple corals. The museum is on five minutes walking distance east from the Suhbaatar Square.

Winter Palace of Bogd Khan
This is the only remaining palace out of four residences where Bogd Khaan, the last Mongolian ruler, resided. This palace now displays the collection of personal belongings of the last Khan and his wife. The museum offers a wide variety of Buddhist arts.
Special attention attracts by paintings by Marzan Sharav depicting with a slice of humor and irony scenes from the everyday life of Mongols in the turn of this century.
The Bogd Khan was known as a true lover of nature who spent tremendous amounts on setting up large gardens with small ponds and boats. The palace zoo had even an elephant and a giraffe. He also collected staffed animals, some of which are exhibited.

Manzushir Monastery
Just 39 km southeast of Ulaanbaatar on the road toward Zuunmod is a monastery that you will not want to miss. The temple is nice and the view is spectacular. The monastery sits on the edge of a cliff overlooking a beautiful valley with creeks and granite boulders.
The monastery was established in 1733 and has had 21 chapels. Buddhist monasteries served as the centers of education, arts and various other disciplines. And among them Manzishir was famous for its school of philosophy and logic, attracting priests from as far as India coming for theological debates. In winter of 1938 the monastery was completely destroyed and the area eventually turned into a recreation zone.

Choijin Lama Temple Museum
This small monastery located in downtown was built on the turn of this century by the decree of the Bogd Khaan for his younger brother. This is one of few Buddhist monasteries that survived destruction during 1930. By irony, the communist powers decided to set up an anti religious center and the Choijin Lam Temple was picked up as its headquarters.
The museum contains precious examples of Buddhist art including the paintings by Ts. Zanabazar, a renowned religious reformer and great artisan of 17th century, as well as colorful masks for Tsam Dance ceremony embroidered with corals, bronze statues of gods in erotica poses, silk tankas and many other artifacts.