The city was founded in 1639 as the main location for a Buddhist monastic center in motion. Today, it is the cultural, industrial and financial heart of the country. The center of Mongolia’s road network is connected by rail to the Trans-Siberian Railway in Russia and to the Chinese rail system that daily connects Moscow and Beijing; Ulaanbaatar is linked to the world through its international airport. One of its main claims is that it is the coldest capital of the world, winter temperatures often drop below -40 ° C.
We show the public the rare discoveries and resources resulting from the excavations carried out over 5 years on the ruins of “Saridag Monastery”, which is largely associated with the life and activities of Ondor Gegeen Zanabazar at the Ulaanbaatar National History Museum until the end of this year. Saridag Monastery, or the White City of Ondor Gegeen Zanabazar, is located in the middle of the taiga mountains inaccessible to man, and Khiidiin Saridag Mountain is located towards Erdene soum of Tuv province. 1688, the soldiers of Galdan Boshigt destroyed Saridag Monastery and the great and small Buddha of Ondor Gegeen Zanabazar during the war between Khalkh and Oirad. Since then, the monastery has remained secret for about 300 years. Within the framework of the project “Mongolian Cities of the 17th Century” implemented by the Institute of History and Archaeology of the Mongolian Academy of Sciences, the national expedition took place under the direction of the director of the Institute and the academician S. Chuluun between 2013 and 2017. This was the largest excavation in Mongolia’s archaeological history.
The monastery consists of nine buildings, three stupas and a fortress over two meters high and during the exaction of a precious cultural heritage, including ceramic gods 15 cm high, a sun clock, a Buddhist bracelet made of precious stones and iron helmets, armors, swords, pistols, hammers, used by the heroes of the 1600s who have been found. Historical sources indicate that the Rebojejai-gandanshaddublin monastery, or the first capital the Great Khuree, was written in the “Rebojejai-gandanshaddublin monastery”, which was founded at the time of the “Blue Horse” (1654), which is the main document in the current history of Ulaanbaatar. Dr. S. Chuluun pointed out that Ondor Gegeen Zanabazar had built, for the first time, the Mongolian capital “Niislel Khuree”, in the middle of the Saridag mountain, which had been moved several times and recently to the current city of Ulaanbaatar.
The exhibition will take place as part of the excavations, as well as the public religious education programmer and conferences, and the ‘Saridag Monastery’ will be presented in the form of a hologram.
Due to the opening of the expedition, the last conference of the art specialist Professor Ts. Uranchimeg PhD, and also “Ceramic Gods” doing religious education program in the training room of the National Museum, on December 18, 2019, entitled “The Heritage of Zanabazar”.
Source: Mongolian national museum