This weird and strange city just north of the forested Bogd Khan
Mountains was founded where it is today in 1778. At the time the
city was a completely transient ger city, and before that it moved
around for some 140 years before being established where it is now,
just beside the Gandan monastery by the Tuul River.
Even today, more than half of the Ulan Bator population live in these
traditional dwellings. Some move out into the countryside in summer
with their entire gear. About half a million people live in Ulan Bator,
which is one quarter of the Mongolian population. The most important
sights in Ulan Bator proper is the Museum of Natural History, the Bogd
Khan Winter Palace and the Gandan monastery.
The Gandan Monastery was the only functioning lamasery during the
entire communist time. It is still the main monastery of Mongolia. Today,
the Mongolian Buddhists receive financial support from India, which is
coordinated by the Indian Ambassador in Ulan Bator. He is a Ladakhi,
and himself a Rinpoche (saint). These funds seem to be raised by the
Tibetan government in exile in India.
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