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SUSAN C. BYRNE
DOMM survey. For example the religious capital of Mongolia, the great /kh khüree,
established by Dsanabadsar in 1639, moved 28 times before it settled on the banks
ofthe Tuul River in the mid 19% century - it is today’s capital, Ulaanbaatar. Given
this history it was never a difficult decision for the old monks planning a revival,
to locate the new temple in a sum centre rather than on the site of the old temple.
Indeed, the monks I met in the 1990s as I travelled around Mongolia, talked about
the revival much more in terms of re-starting the practices, worshipping the deities
associated with the monastery and performing some if not all of the traditional cycle
of religious ceremonies of an old monastery. As one monk replied when I asked him
when his monastery had been revived, “it was in August 1991 when we started the
khural (chanting).” In these early years there was little interest in re-building the
ruins, which did not seem to concern them. I visited a revived ger temple in a sum
centre in Dundgow’ in 1998 and had to push hard to be taken to the site of the old
monastery being told repeatedly “there is nothing to see.” This ger temple like many
around Mongolia at the time was filled with artefacts such as thangkas (sacred hang¬
ing scrolls) and ritual objects brought out of hiding after 1990.’
Informant 3 and his fellow monks had tried to register their temple as the revival
of Khögshin khüree with the Ministry of Law and Interior (Khuul‘ dsüi, dotood
khergiin yaam) but found that the name had already been registered and the stamp
issued to the first revived temple.** Informant 3 told me the documents have now
disappeared with none of the descendants of the former Yengar Shaddiwdarjaalin
monks knowing where they are though although he believes “lay people are keeping
them,” The implication of this is that Ontsar Esheelin, despite being sanctioned by
the Baganuur khural as the revival of Khögshin khüree, does not have the official
name and stamp either.
The other form of registration they and my other two informants spoke about was
being on the register with Gandan, the Head Monastery in the capital, Ulaanbaatar.
7 Tibet Foundation, London. Buddhism in Mongolia Programme Archive. Interview with Sonorm
Lakma, Khowd. 1994. “It was in 1990 when the meetings started again. They were all brought out
of hiding. There was something interesting in every family. All the 108 volumes of the Ganjur were
preserved. Jarghal here kept them and now they are in a museum. We have here a 21 Volume sutra
known as the Yum sutra. It is one of the most important books, and an ordinary person preserved this
one as well, at home and then brought it out. The most important Buddha here was taken home and
placed in a trunk. People have taken excellent care of things — these bells and things ... even these
scarves and the dee/s have now been brought out.
38 Majer, Zs. — Teleki, K.: Survey of Active Buddhist Temples ... “After the democratic change, the
authorities decided that all religious institutions and organizations (Buddhist, Christian, Jewish, Islam
etc.) were to be registered with the Ministry of the Interior and Legal Issues/ Ministry of Law and
Interior (Khuul’dsüi, dotood khergiin yaam). The first permit on the register was given to Gandan, the
main monastery although it is not dated with the third being to Dsüün Khüree Dashchoilin Monastery in
1994 (the second permit is for another religious community). The researchers were able to study a copy
of the registry covering all the registered temples up to January 2006. However, it is clear from the
registry that not all active Buddhist temples in Ulaanbaatar have registered (not to mention many active
countryside temples very few of which have been registered) including, somewhat strangely, some
of the biggest and most well known temples that have failed to register. Even among the registered
temples, the registration date is some years later than the temples’ actual foundation date” (http://www.
mongoliantemples.org/index.php/en/2014-07-0 1-06-34-46/2014-07-0 1-06-44-08/active-temples).
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