Buddhism in Mongolia began with the Yuan dynasty (1271-1368) emperors' conversion to Tibetan Buddhism. The Mongols returned to shamanic traditions after the collapse of the Mongol Empire, but Buddhism reemerged in the 16th and 17th centuries.
Tsetserleg Monastery is on a hill besides the old commercial and cultural centre, where the first Khalkh Zaya Pendita, Luvsanperenlei (1642-1715) built a monastery. The city was the capital of the venerable Zaya Pendita Khutagt's Khalkh principality.
Abtai Sain Khan, ruler of the Khalkha Mongols and grandfather of Zanabazar, the first Jebtsundamba Khutuktu, ordered construction of the Erdene Zuu monastery in 1585 after his meeting with the 3rd Dalai Lama and the declaration of Tibetan Buddhism as the state religion of Mongolia. Stones from the nearby ruins of the ancient Mongol capital of Karakorum were used in its construction. Planners attempted to create a surrounding wall that resembled a Tibetan Buddhist rosary featuring 108 stupas (108 being a sacred number in Buddhism). The monastery's temple walls were painted, and the Chinese-style roof covered with green tiles.
The monastery was damaged in 1688 during one of the many wars between Dzungars and Khalkha Mongols. Locals dismantled the wooden fortifications of the abandoned monastery. It was rebuilt in the 18th century and by 1872 had a full 62 temples and housed up to 1000 monks.
According to tradition, in 1745 a local Buddhist disciple named Bunia made several unsuccessful attempts to fly with a device he invented similar to parachute.
Buddhist monastery in the Gorkhi-Terelj National Park
Khamar Monastery, founded in 1820, was an important Red Hat sect Buddhist monastic, cultural, and education center in Mongolia’s Gobi Desert region until its destruction in 1937. It is located in Khatanbulag district, Dornogovi Province, approximately 47 km south of the provincial capital Sainshand. At its height the monastery reportedly accommodated over 80 temples and some 5000 monks.
