Gandan Khiid Monastery
Trip Start
Mar 01, 2006
1
52
551
Trip End
Dec 01, 2007
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Ulan Bator,
Mongolia
Saturday, June 3, 2006
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Today I went to visit the Gandan Monastery, just near the guesthouse. Unlike other monasteries which were destroyed during the sovietic era, this one remained open and served a vitrin to foreigners. In 1990 it came back to full service, and many building have been rehabilitated. It now hosts as much as 500 monks, and is the main buddhist center in Mongolia.
No picture inside the temples, but the atmosphere there was very special, unlike other temples or churches: you can feel that people are living there, everything looks used and worn out, and is as much for the visitors as for the resident monks. We got to assist to an introductory ceremony, where a young monk was answering questions from the head monk. They were surrounded by a few dozens other monks, themselves surrounded by an assistance of about 100 people. There was litanies from time to time, initiated by the head monk, and repeated by the entire assembly (except for the few tourists).
Throughout the monastery and its many temples, people are praying, and going around while spinning the prayer mills. The whole place was quite free from tourists, and most of the people there were spending this sunny saturday afternoon devoting to their buddhist rituals.
I liked the entrance of the temples, always guarded by some grimacing monsters.
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