Tsagaan Tolgoi Monastery

Tsagaan Tolgoi Monastery is one of the three monasteries established by Noyon Khutagt Danzanravjaa in the Galba Mountain area of Khanbogd soum, in present-day Umnugovi aimag. The monastery was built with wood brought from Inner Mongolia and constructed by Chinese craftsmen. For this reason, its temples and stupas are believed to have reflected Chinese architectural style. In the 1920s, Tsagaan Tolgoi Monastery hosted the final performance of Moon Cuckoo (Saran Khukhuu), a play written by Danzanravjaa. During the political repression of 1937–1939, the monastery stopped its religious activities. According to the 1933 provincial archive records of Umnugovi aimag, the monastery had 155 monks, including 119 permanent residents. Among them, 92 monks were literate in Tibetan and 11 were literate in Mongolian. The records also show that the monastery owned 219 camels, 10 horses, 5 oxen, 102 sheep and 115 goats.