Khamariin Khiid Monastery
We will visit the grounds of the Khamariin Monastery (Sambala Khiid) today, where you will find petrified wood, dinosaur bones, the Sambala energy complex, and cave monasteries. We’ll take a stroll through the stunning red sand dunes.
Khamariin Khiid was founded in 1822 by 17-year-old monk Danzanravjaa, one of Mongolia’s most experienced and forward-thinking masters. The oasis at Khamriin Monastery housed about 500 monks at its peak.
Ravjaa, a poet, songsmith, dramatist, painter, and naturopathic doctor, added to Khamariin Khiid’s spiritual activity by establishing Mongolia’s first secular secondary and art schools, as well as a museum, library, and theater. Every summer, the latter put on elaborate operatic dramas with Buddhist themes. All of the costumes, sets, and props were made in the monastery’s workshops, and the actors received training there.
The monastery was destroyed and looted almost all at in 1938. 64 crates of Danzanravjaa’s books, possessions, and precious gifts were buried in the desert for more than 50 years thanks to the extraordinary foresight and bravery of a Mongolian man called Tudev.
A series of caves to the north of the monastery are where monks could retire and practice high-level meditation for 108 days (108 being a sacred number in Buddhism).
(Family stay B, L, D)
