T13 – The Buddhist Monastery in the Illegal Mining Town

If I ever actually heard the name of this monastery, i didn’t get it written down, and I can’t translate the Cyrillic on the top of the building, so I’m not sure what to call it.

1. View from the parking lot. The place is on the edge of town. The building was built in 2011. The group dates back to 1990, and a proud to have such a long history. Remember, all religion was crushed under Communism.

2. They had extensive grounds.

3. Note all the blue scarves? Clearly the various stops on the way to the front door are not just for decoration. As to the weeds, I couldn’t decide if it was intentional or not. The assistant tour guide said Mongolians aren’t real familiar with decorative gardening and might not know how to weed.

4. The decorative entry gave us some idea of what to expect.

5. They were doing construction when we arrived. Normally there would be about 40 monks in residence, but most had gone on vacation. There was only one female monk among them. She was from the USA, and taught English to the kids. They had us slip on plastic booties before we went wandering around.

6. The main hall for meditation. All the sutras they perform are in Tibetan. Many of the people who ask to have them done can’t understand a word of it, but attend while it is done. They hold regular services as well as community outreach projects.

7. A variety of musical instruments are used – drums, horns, cymbals, etc. along with the chanting of the sutras. Butter candles and incense are burned only while chanting. Notice that behind and in front of the drum are the seats. Where a monk sits is determined by their rank within the group with the most revered at the front closest to the altar.

8. Prayer wheel and flag stuck in a corner at the back. There was a lot to look at.

9. Cheap seats for lay folk to sit in the back.

10. The hallway in front of the main hall. There was a great view of the garden out front from the windows on the left. Check out that ceiling.

11. In the main office/conference room. As we sat down someone noticed this tray full of white pebble like things and asked if it was a miniature zen garden or something. Turned out to be complimentary candies, which they let each of us sample.