Tsugolsky Monastery

RUSSIA, Harare, Tsugol

The monastery is located in Tsugol, a town 300 km east of Chita. It was built in 1831 and is a well-known Tibetan monastery in Buryatia. The first medical school of Buryatia was established here in 1869. It is the largest educational organization in the area with approximately 1,000 students. The university offers classes on Buddhism, Tibetan, and Mongolian languages, medicine, philosophy, astrology, and geography. At the beginning of the 20th century the temple had 11 buildings, including a hospital and the largest sutra printing house in Buryatia. During the Soviet government’s religious persecution of the 1930s Tsugolsky Datsan was spared because it was used as an armory.
The monastery faces south and its principal buildings are the central hall and the Maitreya Hall. The central hall was originally a wooden structure, which was destroyed during a fire and then rebuilt in stone. The hall is seven bays wide and three stories high. Above the third story there is a pavilion whose ridge is decorated with an ornate miniature golden stupa in the center, victory banners on each side and Dharma wheels at the ends. The third story is surrounded by a balcony and the beams under the extended eaves are supported by delicately carved and painted columns. On the second story there is a golden emblem on a blue background. A noticeable feature of the hall is the decorated window frames. On the first story there is an open portico with six columns forming a short colonnade. Above the portico there is an enclosed gallery surrounded by a narrow balcony. The gallery and balcony are accessed by highly decorated metal stairs at the sides. On the roof of the gallery there is a Dharma wheel flanked by deer.
The Maitreya Hall appears to have two stories from the outside but it has only a single story inside. It houses a 6 m high bronze statue of Maitreya Bodhisattva, which is seated with legs pendent. The statue had been seized by the Soviet authorities, but was returned to the monastery after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The return of the statue was a major event for the monastery.