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The most prominent religion of Mongolia is Buddhism with 94% Tibetan Buddhist Lamaism, which has elements of Shamanism and Muslim 6% (mainly Kazakhs in the south-west). Recently Christianity is increasing among young people, especially in urban areas.

Buddhism has a chequered history in Mongolia. It first arrived in the third century B.C. with silk traders from India. It flourished in the time of the `Uigurs' only to die away and arrive a second time from Tibet in the time of the Yuan Dynasty (14th century) to preach the `Red Hat' doctrine. Medieval wars destroyed all the religious monuments of that time. Lastly Tibetan Buddhism or Lamaism came in latter half of 16th century and is what is practiced today. This is known as the `Yellow sect'. In 1577 the Mongolian title Dalai - "Ocean of Wisdom" was bestowed on a visiting Tibetan lama, Sonam Gyatso, by the ruling King of Mongolia, thus creating the lineage of the Dalai Lamas of Tibet.

Mongolia used to be the second, after Tibet, stronghold of Buddhist religion. Mongolians have always taken wholeheartedly to Tibetan Buddhism and the links between Mongolia and Tibet are old and deep. Once in a lifetime, every devout Buddhist Mongolian tries to reach the holy city of Lhasa; the Tibetans in turn have relied on various Mongolian tribes to sustain their power. In the turn of 20th century each and every family was obliged to send one of their children to a monastery to become monk. A great majority of Mongolia's male population were monks before the 1920s. At the time there were 110,000 lamas (monks) living in about 700 monasteries.

With the arrival of Communism in 1920s, the religion was severely repressed. Beginning in the 1930s, thousands of monks were arrested, sent to Siberian labor camps and never heard from again. Monasteries were closed and ransacked and all religious worship and ceremonies outlawed. Monk's were made to renounce their faith or face death. More than 30,000 monks and priests were executed and another 70,000 exiled or imprisoned. All but three of the 700 monasteries were de