Aglag Monastery

A Living Open-Air Sanctuary of Buddhist Rock Art

Roughly two and a half hours northwest of Ulaanbaatar, at the foot of Daliin Khavtsal Mountain, Aglag Buteeliin Khiid — the “Monastery of Tranquil Felicity” — is unlike any other religious site in Mongolia. Founded in the mid-2010s by Buddhist artist and lama G. Purevbat, it blends meditation, sculpture and landscape into a single, walkable open-air complex rather than a conventional temple compound.

Art as Spiritual Practice

Unlike traditional monasteries built around formal temple halls, Aglag Buteel unfolds along winding forest trails where students and teachers of Purevbat’s Buddhist college have carved statues, symbolic gates and mythical animals directly into the mountain’s natural rock. A striking female Buddha carved into stone and a monumental five-headed fish are among its most recognised works.

One of Mongolia's Major Monastic Centres

Despite its youth, Aglag Buteel has grown into one of the three largest Buddhist monastic centres in the country, serving as both a functioning residence for its founding lama and a living workshop for religious art. The complex sits within the Iven Valley near the Selenge River, ringed by larch forest and granite hills.

Walking the Grounds

Visitors follow a kora, or circumambulation path, through pine woods past carved animal statues and Buddhist iconography, arriving at temple buildings decorated with Tibetan-style thangka paintings and a small museum of Buddhist art and artefacts. A steep staircase leads to a second-floor room housing unusual taxidermy pieces representing mythical creatures from Buddhist legend.

Gallery

• Walk the kora path past Buddhist statues carved into living rock
• See the striking five-headed fish and stone-carved Buddha figures
• Visit the museum of Tibetan-inspired thangka art and artefacts
• Picnic in the pine forest surrounding the complex