Amarbayasgalant Monastery
Selenge Province, Mongolia · built 1736
Amarbayasgalant Monastery (Mongolian, ᠠᠮᠤᠷ ᠪᠠᠶᠠᠰᠬᠤᠯᠠᠩᠲᠤ ᠬᠡᠶᠢᠳAmurbayasqulangtu keyid, Manchu: ᡠ᠊ᡵᡤᡠᠨ ᡝᠯᡥᡝ ᠰᡟ Urgun Elhe Sy, simplified, traditional, pinyin: Qìngníng sì) is one of the three largest Buddhist monastic centers in Mongolia. The monastery complex is located in the Iven Valley near the Selenge River, at the foot of Mount Büren-Khaan in Baruunbüren District of Selenge Province in northern Mongolia. The nearest town is Erdenet which is about 120 km to the southwest. The monastery was established and funded by order of the Yongzheng Emperor (and completed under his successor the Qianlong Emperor) of Qing China to serve as a final resting place for Zanabazar (1635–1723), the first Jebtsundamba Khutuktu, or spiritual head of Tibetan Buddhism for the Khalkha in Outer Mongolia and a spiritual mentor to both emperors' ancestor, the Kangxi Emperor. Tradition holds that while searching for an appropriate site to build the monastery, the exploratory group came across two young boys, Amur and Bayasqulangtu, playing on the steppe. They were inspired to build the monastery on that very spot and to name it after the two children, Amur-Bayasqulangtu. More likely, the location was chosen because it stood at the place where the lama's traveling Da Khuree (his mobile monastery and prime residence) was encamped at the moment of his death. Constru
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