1. Khara-Khorum
& Erdene Zuu
The meaning of the word, Khara-Khorum,
might be one of the following words;
khara-khu`rem.. black stone), khara-kerem(black castle), khara-korum)black
shivers of the ruins of Uigur`s karaKorum, VIII CE), khorin,ger (twenty gers,
accordingdto old Mongolian custom, was a center of the city), khorin (a place
is not allowed to speak0 and et cetera. The great ruler, chingis khan, ordered
to build Khara-khorum in 1220 as a capital of the Mongolian Empire. The fourth great khan
Monke. Extended the city and European travelers recorded the city in the word
history in 1246as ‘Khara khorum’ . during the conflicts between Arig-Bokhe
and Khubilai khan, khubilai`s general
Esunge slightly damaged Khara-Khorum and took over in the winter. 1261. In
1260, Khubilai khan moved the Mongolian capital from Khara-Khorum to Kaiping
(Xanedu or Shandu in Mongolian), then to Beijing(Daidu) in 1264, later. Ming
army completely ruined khara-Khorum in 1410. Erdene Zuu monastery is the first
Buddhist monastery in Mongolia. It was built at the initiative of the most
influential Khalha lord Abtai Khan. In 1586 on the spot where Khara- khorum.
The famous capital of the Mongolia Empire of the XIII century was. The stone
columns, blocks and sculptures excavated
from the ruins of the city show that various building materials were used in the construction of this monastery, which began
in the XVI century and continued until
the XIX century. A considerable portion of the building work of the temples,
Fortress and stupas was created under
the direction of the Mongolian artisan
Manzshir and many Mongolian craftsmen participated in erecting this
architectural ensemble. The
architectural style of the temples combines the style of ancient Mongolian, Tibetan and Chinese
architecture. Most noteworthy is that not a single nail was used in the
building. The territory of the monastery occupies an area of 400 square meters and is surrounded
by a stonewall with 108 stupas. These stupas were erected either in honor of a
prominent historical even, or as the grave of
a state or religious figure. Almost ten thousand lamas lived within the
fortress, which contained more than 60 chapels of various sizes. Erdene Zuu is
said to have had 108 Tsam dances and religious rites were arranged annually in different parts of
the monastery. The Mongolians, Chinese. Arab and Tibetan scripts of the XII and
XIV centuries have been preserved to the
present in some of the temples. The chapel built in honor of the Tusheet Khan
Chahundorj’s visit to Dalai Lama in 1670 is also situated here. Furthermore
there is a brick fortress wall with two graves, of Abtai Khan who died in 1587,
and his son Tusheet Khan gombodorj. The tomb of Gombodorj’s wife is placed
outside of the fortress in the so called ‘female sector’ of the monastery, on
the north eastern side. Three main temples, “Three Zuu” the western temple of
which was built by Abtai Khan and his son Gombodorj, stand in most sacred
western side. Three statues of 8 idols are placed in the temple, the one on the
left side depicting Sanjaa who, according to the religious mythology, was the
first disseminator of religion before Buddha, the on of right being Jamba (the
Holy Maitreya), disseminator of Buddhism after Buddha, and the one in the
center is Buddha in his old age. The main Central Zuu was built by the
missionary Tsogt at the Zungen Lor’s ruling. An idol can be seen on either side
of the entrance of the main shrine of Erdene Zuu, the idol Lham to the left and
the idol Gombogur to the right.three big idol statues are placed along the
northern wall. On the left of the God of medicine Otoch Manal, on the right is
Holy Abida, and the center the Buddha in his youth. Statues of 8 idols are
placed in the temple. These are the Buddha’s disciples, the God of the Moon, 8
Sages and others. A special pedestal displays dozens of gilded statues of idols
(chased and moulded) the works of Under Gegen Zanabazar, a master
sculptor and artist. The walls of the temple are adorned with beautiful works
of appliqué depicting the forest,
mountains and caves where the gods pursued their hermitic existence. These
pictures are called the land of the Thousand Buddha of Golden Time, who have
descended from heaven to earth. The eastern temple of Zuu was built by Erkhi
Mergen Khan’s wife and the Bogdo Lama’s mother. Three are three big statues
displayed in the temple, on the left is the Bogdo lama himself, on the right is
the idol Janraisag, and the center is the image of the Buddha in his teenage
years. The model of the eastern Zuu temple made of brown sandalwood is placed
on a central pedestal. The main stupa which is called the Golden Payer Stupa stand
in the northern sector. The three-circled of lavran restored in 1969-1973.
Erdene zuu
Abtai Sain khan of Mongolia built the
monasterof Kharakhorum the old capital of the Mongolian Empire in 1586.
Mongolian architects headed by master Manzshir built Erdene zuu using old
Kharakhorum buildings foundations, stones and blue bricks. Erdene zuu walls,
stupas, temples,statues and sculptures in the temples exemplify high skill of
the Mongolian masters.
17640 square meters of land is walled
up for the Erdene Zuu compound. The walls have four big gates symbolizing the four
directions and eight points. The walls consist of 108 stupas, 25 on each side
and 2 at every corner. In the middle of the compound big ger 20metrs in
diameter called Bat Ulzii was built in 1658. In front of the ger there was a
hand made lake. Water pipes were laid from the Orhkon river to supply the lake
with water. The two statues of gods in the front of the Zuu Soum were devoted to Abtai sain khan and his son
Tusheet Khan Gombodorj .
The temples of Erdene zuu contain an
excellent collection of thangkas, tsam mask , wooden and bronze statues,
appliqués and papier-mâché of various
gods made by Mongolian masters in the 16th and 18th
centuries.
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