In the Mountain Khugnu Khan,
there are ruins of temple which is well-known among the history of Mongolian
Buddhist Monasteries and Monks as a name of Erdene khamba Khiid. The Mountain
Khugnu Khan is a magnificent mountain area in Mongolia where you can feel
unique and picturesque natural scenery encompassing a mixture of mountainous
and fertile pastures, steppe and Gobi desert in which ancient mythical and
significant two monasteries locate. Also you can explore ancient crave mound.
Initially, in a year of 842, an atheist named Landram became the Khan of Tibet
and started to destroy monasteries and massively murdered monks throughout the
region. According to the ancient legend, a monk called Lhalambaldorj, who managed
to escape from the massacre using his own wisdom and special ways and then he
came to and settled in a meditating monastery located in Khugnu Khan Mountain.In 1612, a Mongolian monk, Erdenetsorj,
built an additional main temple which was 10 meter high and resembling the
structure of the 64-room Yamanda monastery caused the creation of meditation
monastery with 13 temples deifying the red deity known as Jamsran Buddha in
current Uvgun monastery. But 1688 during the Khalkha and Oirad (majority and
western Mongols) war, the monastery was completely destroyed and all the monks
were killed. In 1700 the monastery was relocated in a different place with 4
sanctuaries and 3 temples with 200 monks. In 1937, because of communist regime,
the monastery was destroyed again and about 20 high ranked monks were executed.
Fortunately, today there are two small undestroyed temples and the "Five
Khan" monastery walls on the mountain.
Today, there are only the ruins. Erdene
Khamba Monastery had two sections: the lower one called the Zaluu Khiid, and
the upper one called the Uvgun Khiid. The Erdene Khamba Monastery was destroyed
during Middle Age feuds between Western and Eastern Mongolians (Dzungaria and
Khalkh Mongolia) after the collapse of the Mongol Empire. The armies of
Dzungarian leader, Galdan Boshigt, noticed the golden roofs of the temples in
the Mountain and massacred the partisan-monks of the rival Zanabazar in 1640
and killed them by tying their necks with a rope (this killing process is
called khugnokh in Mongolia) as if they were goats and sheep. The name of the
Mountain was given after the huge killing.
