#001 Things to visit in Ulan-Bator, Mongolia.

Hello! This is our very first blog. We are happy to be here.

Let us introduce ourselves. We are from Virgin Terra travel agency, based in Mongolia. We want to try new things out that is blogs about Mongolia, related to travelling.

Today, we have visited to The Bogd Khan Museum, located in the central of Ulan-Bator.

So who is Bogd Khan? …

After 300 year of Qing dynasty, Mongolia finally announced our independence to the world, proudly. He was the last king of Mongolia from 1911 to 1924, husband of Dondogdulam (so called White Tara), adopted around 300 children.

After walking around the populated city, as we walked into this museum, this is one of the places to get out of the stressful city. The first impression of walking into this museum is that we feel like peaceful, odd, relaxed, and kind of exited to explore the next.

In 1903, the museum was established as a temple of Mongolian last king.

In 1961, it was officialy changed the status of temple to the museum status by Government of Mongolia.

Basically, the museum consists of 8 beautiful temples, (The Maharaja temple, Temple of Silk Embroideries, The temple of Appliques, The temple of Thangkas, The Naidan temple, The Library temple, The Labrang temple and Winter palace).

1. The Maharaja Temple (meaning Great King in Sanskrit): It is the main gate temple which consists of 4 protection Gods in order to protect & guard internal and external obstacles, dangers and evils.
2. The Temple of Silk Embroideries: In the 19th and 20th centuries. Mongolian silk embroidery developed much more quickly than other art forms, bringing it to the same artistic level as the more traditional painting. There are several quite large and valuable examples of fine embroideries in the museum’s collection. The silk embroideries were created by having an outline image drawn, to which silk and brocade were applied. One special characteristic of these artworks is that while following the precise rules for Tibetan Buddhist art (theg jayag) they still manage to express the unique artistic spirit of Mongols.
3. The Temple of Appliques: The popularity of appliques stems from the fact that, while it renders the image o the idol and is created following aesthetic color combinations like that of a painting, after this initial process was completed, the artist would then overlay the image with separate pieces of silk, trim it with gold or silver thread as well as colored silk, and embroider onto the image precious gems, such as coral, pearls, and turquoise.
4. The Temple of Thangkas: The Buddhist art from of Thangkas, are often referred to as "Idol Art" by Mongolians. Thangkas adapted to become more suitable to and characteristic of the nomadic life style in terms of composition and color, and created thangkas using a variety of different methods to further develop Mongolian Buddhist Art.
5. The Naidan Temple: This temple was where 16 monks from the Denchingalaw Monastery would hold the "Nadanchog' prayer ceremony annually on the last month of summer, for the Bogd Khaan and the longevity of his life. During the prayer ceremony, the temple displays various religious items and musical instruments that would typically be used in similiar Buddahist ceremonies.
6. The Library Temple: The library housed many volumes of books and sutras written in Mongolian, Tibetan Sanskrit, Manchurian, and Chinese Archival documents verify that his library not only housed numerous books and sutras on Buddhism and Buddhist thought, but a plethora of different disciplines, from philosophy on being and existence, to astronomy, astrology, history and historical accounts.
7. The Labrang Temple: This temple was the 8th Bogd Javzandamba’s main temple of prayer and worship. The First Bogd Zanabazar (1635-1723) was a multitaitented artist who created many wonderful cast, sculpture, clay, and repoussé masterpieces, which were a testament to his deep thinking and intelligence. His masterpieces would leave a lasting impression. on Mongolian Buddhist Art and the conception of rendering the human form and its physical features within art.
8. The Winter Palace: The 8th BogdJavzandamba’s Winter Palace, a 2-story white European style building, was built upon blue prints from Imperial Russia. The golden Buddhist "ganjir" ornament on top of the roof and the lotus patterns along the building’s upper facade were added to appease the Qing Emperor, who had criticizedand expressed his displeasure over the construction of a building in the image of an opposing faith.

In conclusion, during the exploration of this unique museum, the thoughts of us are Mongolia has rich culture, tradition, respect for Buddhism, and history. We feel pretty proud to be Mongolian again.

We hope you will read our blog for the next one. See you there!

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