The great Zanabazar founded this monastery in 1648 at the age of 13. He went to Tibet when he was 15 years old during the time of the 5th Dalai Lama. The Panchen Lama, Lobsang Chogen, gave him the name of Jetsun Dhampa, and ordained him.
On his return he began to build monasteries, to teach and developed great skills as a sculptor and artist. Some of his work, which is exquisite, can still be seen in the museums and monasteries in Ulaanbaatar.

He was born into an ancient family, his father being the Khan of the area.
It is said that he started to say prayers within the Gelugpa tradition without a tutor when he was very young. Originally he founded a ger (a type of tent) temple, which moved with the nomadic community of the area before he went to Tibet.

Shank Khiid was a large debating monastery and many of the best scholars came there.
It covered a large area of land and in the complex there were eleven temples.
The present temple, which is being restored, was one of them, called Noyon Hamp. It was built originally between 1710 and 1790. There were many important images and paintings there at that time. There was a beautiful image of Vajrapani which Altan Khan had brought back from Tibet. On his visit Altan Khan said that he needed to bring the best monk back to Mongolia with him. However he thought the one chosen for him was too ugly to come to Mongolia in this life. It is said the monk did come in a future life as Zanabazar.

Shank Khiid was eventually destroyed between 1932 and 1937 during the communist purge. There was no system of registration at that time but it is estimated that there were approximately 1,500 Gelong monks, and 2,500 Getsul and Rabjung. The Gelong monks were all shot, the Getsul and others were sent to labour camps for at least 10 years; young monks were taken away and forced to work, making boots and so on.

In 1990 Mongolia became free to practise religion again. Some monks had secretly practised the teachings of the Buddha over the years and it was these old monks that now began to re-establish the monastery. At the beginning one old monk became Abbot,
but he only lived for one year. Another one then took over, but he became crazy. So it was decided to make a young man the head monk. He is called Purevsyrebohd and is 25 years old. He was born in the local area and became a monk in 1992 just after the re-establishment started. He has the awesome task of not only restoring the buildings but of revitalising the teachings of the Buddha within this historical monastery. Now there are 25 monks there, five of them very old .

The monastery at present exists through sponsoring from local people, but it needs considerably more help if it is to survive. Panchen Otrul Rinpoche has promised to give them as much support as he possibly can. At present water is coming through the roof and the walls are deteriorating. Some of the original artefacts kept hidden over the years were given back to the monastery when the restoration started. Now because of the great poverty in the area, many have been stolen to be sold in Ulaanbaatar.
The monks at present have to live outside the monastery as there is no hostel for them.
Money is urgently needed to stop the deterioration of the present building and also to built a hostel for the monks.
Although time cannot go backwards, it is important for the future of Mongolian people that they regain some of the inheritance from their long history. The monasteries and their Buddhist religion are very much a part of this.

If you would like to help with re-establishment of Shank Khiid, please contact us:
contact Jampa Ling