The original temple of the Great Blissful and Vast Gandan Tegchenlin Monastery was established in 1809 on Dalhyn Hill and was originally called the Yellow Temple. Later, this temple was converted into the Choirin Monastery. In 1824, the Lamrim Dugaan was built, followed by the construction of the Ikh Hot Mandal temple in 1838 dedicated to the Bogd Khan, as well as the Dashchoinkhor and Yagdachoylin temples, expanding the monastery complex.
In 1938, the monastery was closed and some temples were destroyed. However, due to the continuous influx of devoted pilgrims, under strict government supervision, on the first day of summer in 1944, the Gandan Tegchenlin Monastery held its first assembly under the name “Morgöliin Dugaan” (Prayer Hall), resuming its religious activities.
Today, the monastery consists of six temples and was placed under state protection in 1994. The buildings of the monastery are constructed using wood, stone, and bricks in Mongolian, Mongolian-Chinese, and Chinese-Tibetan architectural styles. The main decorations include gilded carvings, bronze ornaments, bodhisattvas, roof animals, and bells, all carefully crafted to adorn the monastery.
Gandan Temple
Gandan Temple is the main temple of the Gandan Tegchenlin Monastery, built by talented artisans under the decision of the Fifth Bogd Khan. Inside the Gandan Temple are valuable religious and cultural artifacts such as a bronze statue of the Old Saint crafted by the Great Saint Zanabazar, the 108 volumes of the Kangyur written in gold on black paper by Mongolian monks in the 19th century, and a Buddha statue crafted by the monks of Gandan Monastery in 1956 to commemorate the 2500th anniversary of Buddha. Also preserved is a Buddha statue over 2000 years old, gifted by the former President of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, during his visit to Mongolia in 1957, a silver stupa brought from Sri Lanka, and a statue of Bogd Zonkhov made from 15 kilograms of pure silver.
The temple also houses sacred objects called the “Seven Jewels” of the First Bogd G. Zanabazar, including the statue of Ochirdari Buddha, the Ayush of the Kangyur, and other revered deities such as Manal of the Lord Shrine, Daryekh, Namsrai, and Maydar.
The library was established in 1925 and contains over 50,000 manuscripts and texts from the 19th century, when scholarship flourished in Mongolia. These include the Kangyur and Tengyur of Dergé and Huree, works by Tibetan scholars such as the Dalai Lama, Wangchen Bogd, Bogd Zonkhov, and philosophers Agvaanbaldan, Agvaantüvden, Dantsagdorj, and Zava Damdin. The collection also includes manuscripts made of gold, silver, and nine precious stones, as well as rare paleographic documents in Lants, Sanskrit, and Tibetan scripts. This vast repository serves as a fundamental source for studies in Mongolian philosophy, literature, history, culture, and various sciences.
Within the walled enclosure of Gandan Temple stands a statue of Bogd Zonkhov, which was restored during the 1950s and 1960s after damage. To the northeast of the temple, there is a religious higher education institute established in 1970. After being interrupted since 1938, traditional schools of chanting, rituals, astrology, and arts were revived. The institute resumed awarding the “Gavj” title, a scholarly degree given by the philosophical schools (datsans), helping to further develop Buddhist philosophical education.
Wishing Tree
At Gandan Tegchenlin Monastery stands a pillar known as the “Wishing Tree.” Originally, it was one of the four main pillars of the Gungaachoylin Temple. The belief that this pillar grants any wish stems from a legend that, during the harsh period of persecution when the monastery was set on fire, the Gandan prayer hall and its associated temples survived the flames untouched. Mongolians have a tradition of selecting young, straight, and clean wood for the main pillars of temples, carefully praying over the wood during the construction. It is believed that the blessings from the original consecration over 200 years ago are still preserved in this pillar, which people revere as sacred.
Megjid Janraisig Temple
Located to the north of the Gandan Temple enclosure, the 30-meter-high Megjid Janraisig Temple was built around 1911. At that time, it was the tallest building in the capital city of Niislel Khuree. The main sacred object inside the temple is a 26-meter-tall statue of Megjid Janraisig Buddha, which is actually the second statue constructed. The original statue was made in honor of Mongolia’s last Bogd Khan, Jebtsundamba Khutuktu, in 1911 but was dismantled in 1938 and sent to be used as ammunition by Soviet troops. Since then, the temple remained empty until 1990.
When erecting the four main pillars of the temple, the ancestors of the Mongols selected young pine trees over 80 cubits long from Noyon Mountain, where the tombs of Hunnu kings are preserved. From the banks of the Tuul River to the temple’s foundation, devotees formed two rows—left and right wings—passing water by hand, carrying copper, brass, and agate vessels from their homes to supply the temple with water by hand rather than through pipes.
The Great Statue of Megjid Janraisig
The current statue of Megjid Janraisig Buddha was built over six years with public donations after 1990 and was unveiled on a fortunate day, October 27, 1996. The statue’s body and face were cast from 19 tons of copper. Inside the statue are treasures brought from each Mongolian province and historical sites, including precious stones, samples of hot and cold mineral springs, rare medicinal herbs, incense, grain samples, sacred Buddhist scriptures, and Mongolia’s famous historical epics such as the Secret History of the Mongols, Geser, and Jangar. It also contains a morin khuur (horsehead fiddle) with strings made from a stallion’s tail. The scriptures alone weigh 17 tons.
The statue’s exterior is covered with gold leaf, consisting of 75,926 sheets measuring 5×5 cm each. The four statues’ halos were gilded using 1,356 grams of gold, following traditional East Asian Buddhist techniques. The “hairpin” of the statue’s crown contains 304 precious stones of 21 different types, collected from the 22 Mongolian provinces, while the crown itself is adorned with 2,286 gemstones, representing the collection from all provinces.
The statue’s chest armor (dodig) and waist belt (modig) are made of approximately 100 meters of brocade silk and jasan fabric, the rarest silk in the world, personally selected and brought by Gurdavaa Renbuuchee from Varanasi, India. The five-colored silk cloth spanning the statue’s halo was woven in Varanasi and measures 50 meters long. The altar table in front of the statue was made by the renowned carver L. Chuvaa and measures 5 meters long, 2 meters wide, and 1.55 meters high—unprecedented in size. The altar table is adorned with the “Seven Treasures of State” and eight religious offerings made of copper and silver and gilded with gold.
Surrounding the statue on the temple walls are thousands of small Ayush Buddhas. Half of these were ordered and crafted in Poland in 1911. The Ayush Buddha is believed to grant longevity and holds a medicine-filled vase with extracts from 404 types of healing herbs, symbolizing the power to cure all human diseases.
Meaning of the Name “Janraisig”
The word “Janraisig” means the being who intently observes with wide-open eyes the suffering of all six kinds of sentient beings. The heart mantra of Janraisig is the well-known six-syllable “Om Mani Padme Hum.” This mantra is traditionally learned without needing a teacher and is never forgotten. People say the mantra three times in one sitting and do not question its meaning afterward. Those who understand it do not boast about their knowledge.
On the right side of the statue is a missing “vase” that holds “eternal water,” believed to purify everything it touches and, if drunk, to grant eternal life symbolized by the “eternal knife.” On the left side is a missing magical mirror, symbolizing Janraisig Buddha’s ability to see people’s bad deeds and to help correct their mistakes.
Inside the statue’s chest area are two “vases” in a meditative pose. The eternal water dripping from the left vase’s palm is flicked by the right hand’s little finger, symbolically sprinkling blessings upon good people.