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Museums of Ulaanbaatar
Natural History Museum
Here you will get an overview of the geography,
flora and fauna of Mongolia. Of special interest
is an outstanding collection of dinosaur bones,
which were found in the Gobi Desert. First sensational
discovery of dinosaur bones were made by the expedition
of adventurous American, Roy Chapman Andrews back
in 20s. Since then, expeditions from Russia, Poland
and recently from the USA and Japan are coming
regularly. The museum is located just across the
street from the Government House.
National History Museum
Set up recently, the museum occupies the building
of the former Museum of Revolution. The museum
offers the richest collection on the history of
Mongolia, from Stone Age to modern times. It allows
to retrospect the unique culture of horse riding
steppe nomads and their lifestyle. The exhibition
contains many artifacts of traditional handicrafts
and arts, military equipment and arms of Chinggis
Khaan warriors. The museum is located on the corner
of the downtown Suhbaatar Square.
Gandan Monastery
Built in 1840, it is the most important monastery
in Mongolia. It is easily seen north west of the
city center. In the past it was one of the main
Buddhist centers in Asia having two dozens of
chapels and famous for its library collection
of religious documents and the typography.
The monastery was severely damaged during the
repression of 30s and only few building remained
among them a chapel for 20 meters high statue
of Megzhid Janraisig god erected in 1911 as a
symbol commemorating the Mongolia's independence.
During the WW II the statue was taken to Russia
to be used as scrap metal for shells. In 1990
the statue was rebuilt with nation wide donations.
Have a $ 5.00 bill ready if you would like to
take picture of this restored statue. The Gandan
Monastery is the central place for major religious
ceremonies and festivities, including Tsam Dance,
a theatralised performance. The monastery has
presently about 150 monks and a Buddhist School.
Fine Arts Museum
This museum is dedicated to paintings, religious
arts and artifacts. You will find a wonderful
collection of archeological artifacts from Hun
period (III-II centuries BC) and panel embroidery.
It houses the largest tanka scroll (Buddhist embroidery
tapestry) in Mongolia, but the museum premises
are not spacious enough to display this 36 meters
long tanka. The museum also has two unique Tsam
Dance masks lavishly decorated with 15,000 and
5,000 pieces of deep purple corals. The museum
is on a five minutes walking distance east from
the Sukhbaatar Square.
Winter Palace of Bogd Khan
This is the only remaining palace out of four
residences where Bogd Khaan, the last Mongolian
ruler, resided. This palace now displays the collection
of personal belongings of the last Khaan and his
wife. The museum offers a wide variety of Buddhist
arts. Special attention attracts by paintings
by Marzan Sharav depicting with a slice of humor
and irony scenes from the everyday life of Mongols
in the turn of this century. The Bogd Khaan was
known as a true lover of nature who spent tremendous
amounts on setting up large gardens with small
ponds and boats. The palace zoo had even an elephant
and a giraffe. He also collected staffed animals,
some of which are exhibited.
Manzushir Monastery
Just 39 km southeast of Ulaanbaatar on the road
toward Zuunmod is a monastery that you will not
want to miss. The temple is nice and the view
is spectacular. The monastery sits on the edge
of a cliff overlooking a beautiful valley with
creeks and granite boulders. The monastery was
established in 1733 and has had 21 chapels. Buddhist
monasteries served as the centers of education,
arts and various other disciplines. And among
them Manzishir was famous for its school of philosophy
and logic, attracting priests from as far as India
coming for theological debates. In winter of 1938
the monastery was completely destroyed and the
area eventually turned into a recreation zone.
Choijin Lam Temple Museum
This small monastery located in downtown was built
on the turn of this century by the decree of the
Bogd Khaan for his younger brother. This is one
of few Buddhist monasteries that survived destruction
during 1930. By irony, the communist powers decided
to set up an anti religious center and the Choijin
Lam Temple was picked up as its headquarters.
The museum contains precious examples of Buddhist
art including the paintings by Ts. Zanabazar,
a renowned religious reformer and great artisan
of 17th century, as well as colorful masks for
Tsam Dance ceremony embroidered with corals, bronze
statues of gods in erotical poses, silk tankas
and many other artifacts.
Contact us at:
info@thisismongolia.com
