Page 92 [92]
BABY CLOTHES AND OTHER POSSESSIONS
OF ONDÖR GEGEEN DSANABADSAR
Krisztina Teleki
Eötvös Loránd University, Research Centre for Mongol Studies, Budapest
The aim of the present article is to commemorate Ondér Gegeen Dsanabadsar (Ondér
gegen Janabajar, 1635-1723), the First Bogd Jebtsundamba Khutugtu (Jawjandamba
xutagt, Tib. rje btsun dam pa) by defining some of his clothes and other possessions.
The article omits the wonderful Buddhist artworks Dsanabadsar crafted and his books,
but focuses on the sacred sites related to him, his possessions kept in Urga at the begin¬
ning of the 20" century, and his personal belongings that remained for today.!
Sacred Sites Related to Dsanabadsar
Dsanabadsar was born in Yesénjiiil (present-day Ôwôrxangai Province) as a child of
Gombodorj and Xandjamc.* A stupa was erected in the vicinity of his birthplace in
1640 (rebuilt in the 1990’s) and the site of the family’s yurt is still visible on a beauti¬
ful meadow covered by flowers and brooks. Dsanabadsar was enthroned in 1639 at the
nearby (Sirét) Cagan Nir Lake (present-day Biird district in Ow6rxangai Province),
and the history of Urga (drgé, ‘residence, yurt palace’),’ the residence of the Bogd
Jawjandamba xutagts, and Ulänbätar traces back to that very year.‘ This first residence
moved to X686 Caidam in 1640 following the nomadic tradition.
Dsanabadsar initiated the building of additional temples in Erdene Ji, the first mo¬
nastery in Mongolia, and founded a monastery in the vicinity in 1647 (known later
! The present article was written with the support of the Janos Bolyai Research Scholarship (Bolyai Janos
Kutatäsi Ösztöndij) of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. A Mongolian article and an English mono¬
graph of the author also contain data related to the topic: Teleki, Krisztina: Ondér gegén Janabajarin
biyet bolon biyet bus öwin jise barimtüd. In: Nomadic Heritage Studies Museum Nationale Mongoli
Tom. XIII. Fasc. 36. National Museum of Mongolia, Ulänbätar 2013, pp. 304-321, Teleki, Krisztina:
Introduction to the Study of Urga's Heritage. Mongolian Academy of Sciences, Institute of History and
Archaeology — International Association for Mongol Studies. Ulaanbaatar 2015.
For details see www.mongoliantemples.org; Croner, Don: Guidebook to Locates Connected with the Life
of Zanabazar First Bogd Gegeen of Mongolia. Polar Star Press, Ulanbaatar 2006, pp. 1-44.
A memorial was erected there in 1999. Ürgô was known later as Ix xiiré, Da xiiré, Nislel xiiré, Bogdin
xuré, etc.
4 Though the Eighth Bogd (1869-1924) passed away in 1924, Urga remained a part of the capital city of
Mongolia until 1938, when many of its buildings were demolished to give space to new buildings of
Ulaanbaatar.
90