Mongolia

It’s the lama Zayan Gegeen who created in 1616 the monastery and the village (Tsetserleg) that surrounds it near Bulgan Mount. He’s reported to be reincarnated three times.

The old temple of Zayan Gegeen was restored in 1951. It was used as a warehouse during the communist system, and then was transformed into an ethnic museum. So today it ceased all its religious activities. Made of wood, stone, blue bricks and tiles, its style was inspired by the Tibetan, the Mongol-Tibetan, and the Sino-Tibetan styles. The first floor of the central complex is composed of three temples containing the corpses of the three Zayan Gegeen. The site was composed of several temples and was able to welcome 1000 lamas, and even 4000 for some special religious ceremonies. Two Tibetan-styled wings were added during the 19th century. They were composed of two floors, but at the beginning of the 20th century, they were brought back to one single floor. In the museum, we can find a turtle that comes from the vestiges of Bugatiin Dursgal, a whole of standing stones located in the plain of Bugat, ”the deer plain”.

Bugatiin Dursgal contains the oldest vestiges we know, of the Turkish empires. The oldest steles found there date back from 582.

The museum also contains other historic vestiges, an exhibition about the modern history of the region, and a room dedicated to the local fauna and flora. At the first floor, in the old library, are shown old liturgical objects.