Erdenidzu Buddhist Monastery

Erdenidzu Buddhist Monastery is a diamond of Central Mongolia. It is situated near Karakorum, the first capital of Mongolia. It would be right to say that modern Karakorum is a small town, while the ancient city of Karakorum is under a thick layer of ground. Russian and German archaeologists organized excavations, but, if you are not a fan of Archaeology, it is right to go strait to Erdenidzu.
The name of Erdenidzu means “the place of treasures”. It was founded by Tibetan monks in the 16th century and soon became the main Buddhist center of External Mongolia. It contained several thousand monks and had its own schools, scriptoria and art workshops. The monastery collected great real treasures, but the main treasures were three temples built in the Tibetan style. Every temple symbolized one part of Buddha’s life. In spring the monks organized the festival of Tsam. Dancing Lamas armed with ritual axes curbed bad spirits. Tsam was continued with a cattle sacrifice. Buddhism itself is a bloodless religion. Thus Tsam is a faint sound of ancient shamanist cults.
In 1930s the Mongolian Communists closed the monastery. Some monks were repressed, but most of them came to different parts of Mongolia and began to live as usual people. After the Second World War Erdenidzu became a museum. It is still a museum, but a part of it is occupied with a working monastery.