14.
Khamar monastery
Khamar monastery was established in the 1820’s by famous 19th
century Mongolian educator and literary figure Danzanravjaa. The Monastery was
an important center of the Buddhist “red sect”, and seat of the Gobiin Dogshin
Noyon Khutagt / “Terrible Noble Saint Of the Gobi”/. An outspoken critic of the
society in which he lived , Danzanravjaa fought against the rigid class and
gender distinction of his day. He devoted great efforts to the cause of public education, which he
promoted at khamar Monastery through the establishment of an inclusive public
school , theatre, museum and library. The “ Namtar duulakh datsan” /
story singing college/ , established at Khamar monastery in the 1830s, is
recognized as being Mongolia’s first professional theatre. The nearby
“Khuukhdiin datsan” / children’s college/ offered basic and vocation, artistic
training for local children, who often went on to become singers and dancers
painters, sculptors, and other artists at the Monastery or in its theatre
company , in addition Khamar Monastery included a public library, museum,
poetry recital hall and other facilities , making it an important regional
cultural center, in the words of renowned Mongolian scholar Damdinsuren .
Ts.:”Khamar monastery was a perfectly harmonious location, having a river with
many fine trees along its south part and rocky mountains with dozens of caves
along its north; and the place was filled with the noise of hundreds of people playing the
famous Saran Khokhoo drama……….”.
The local public was involved in many
religious activities held at the Monastery , including the Tsam dance festival
and the Amaagiin Gandoi Ergekh ceremony. Under Danzanravjaa’s influence women
were especially encouraged to participate in these events; Khamar Monastery was
unique in 19th century Mongolia as a place where women were accorded
greater respect and privileged than men. Reflecting these liberal attitudes
Danzanravjaa composed the song Ulemjiin Chanar/ quality of Greatness/ - which
remains popular today – in praise of a woman’s qualities. To the north of the
monastery were a series of caves where monks would practice yogic exercises and
meditate in isolation for 108 days at a time , hardening their bodies whilst
expanding their physical and spiritual powers. At the rear of the present –day
monastery is a well initially Danzanravjaa claimed in his Adistet yosnii sudar
/blessed water sutra/ that this water was helpful in curing aliments to the
stomach, intestines, bile and liver, and provided special instructions for its
drinking and use. Fossilized dinosaur bones, petrified wood, and other rare
palaeontological remains are widespread
in the area surrounding the monastery. Palaeontologists working in the region have dug up most
notably a skeleton of the herbivorous dinosaur iguanodon , which lived in the
Cretaceous period between 80 and 200 million years ago, at its peak Khamar
monastery consisted of four main sections- East khuree, West khuree, Tsokhon
and Dunkher – comprising four colleges /datsan/ and the children ‘s school,
more than eighty temples, and a resident population of over five hundred lamas.
The monastery was completely destroyed by the military in 1938 during
Mongolia’s religious purge. Khamar Monastery was re-established in 1990s on the
initiative of Zuun – Bayan resident Zorigtbaatar. S. and others, with the
support of the local religious community. Currently two small ceremonial
temples and several religious monuments have been reconstructed , with more
than ten lamas now in residence at the monastery. Pans are underway to
reconstruct more elements of this historic site in the near future . We hope
you may enjoy your visit and support our endeavors to revive this valuable part
of Mongolia’s heritage.
1.when was the Khamar monastery re
–established?
2. who was the built the Khamar monastery?
3.what is the Mongolian first
professional theatre ?
4.have you ever been there?
No comments:
Post a Comment