Illustrated Guidebook to Locales Connected with the Life of Zanabazar: First Bogd Gegeen Of Mongolia

Zanabazar (1635-1723) was the son of the Tüsheet Khan, one of the rulers of seventeenth-century Mongolia, and a distant descendant of Chingis Khan, founder of the Mongol Empire. His spiritual propensities were apparent almost from birth and in 1639, while still a small boy, he was recognized as the head of the Sakya sect of Buddhism in Mongolia. He later traveled to Tibet where he was recognized as the 16th incarnation of Javsandamba and converted to the Gelug sect of Tibetan Buddhism by the 5th Dalai Lama. As the head of the Gelug sect in Mongolia he introduced many new innovations, including the Maitreya Ceremony, and initiated the construction of numerous new temples and monasteries. A renowned polymath, Zanabazar composed new prayers, scriptures, and music, and invented the Soyombo alphabet, but he is probably best known for his incomparable sculptures, which rank among the greatest works of Buddhist art ever created. These include White Tara, the Twenty-One Taras, the five Transcendental Buddhas, Sitasamara, Vajradhara, and many more. The Guidebook contains detailed descriptions and 108 color photographs of twenty locales in Mongolia connected with the life of Zanabazar, including temples and museums where his artworks can be be seen. Covered are well-known attractions like the Zanabazar Art Museum and Gandan Monastery in Ulaan Baatar, Erdene Zuu Monastery in Kharkhorin, and lesser known locales such as Yesön Züil, the birthplace of Zanabazar, and Saridgiin Khiid, the monastery founded by Zanabazar in the Khentii Mountains. GPS coordinates are provided for all countryside locations.