Shankh Monastery

Shankh Monastery Шанх хийд
Religion
Affiliation	Tibetan Buddhism
Location
Location	Övörkhangai Province, Mongolia
Country	Mongolia
Location within Mongolia
Geographic coordinates	47°03′05″N 102°57′14″E / 47.0514°N 102.954°E / 47.0514; 102.954
Architecture
Style	Chinese, Mongol and Tibetan influences
Date established	1647

Shankh Monastery (Mongolian: Шанх хийд, Shankh Khiid) located in Övörkhangai Province, Central Mongolia, 25 kilometers South East of Kharkhorin city, is one of Mongolia’s oldest and most historically significant monasteries. It was founded in 1647 by Zanabazar, the first Jebtsundamba Khutuktu, or spiritual head of Tibetan Buddhism for the Khalkha in Outer Mongolia, around the same time as the establishment of the nearby Tövkhön Monastery.

The monastery belongs to the Gelupa, or Yellow Hat Sect, school of Tibetan Buddhism. Its main temple is famous for its seven Kalachakra Mandalas which portray all 722 Kalachakra deities, the only ones of their kind in Mongolia.

The meaning of the word shankh is unclear, with some speculating it refers to the small mountain range between the monastery and Erdene Zuu Monastery, while others claim it refers to “a group of objects arranged in a particular order”.^[1]