Сарьдагийн Хийд monastery of Undur Gegen Dzanabazar and art of the Buddhist clay sculptures

Within the framework of the project «The settlements of Mongolia of the XVII century», led by the academician S. Chuluun, the expedition of the Institute of History and Ethnology of the Academy of Sciences of Mongolia worked in the Erdene somon of the Central aimag in 2013-2020. As the result of the archaeological expeditions, the materials connected with the history of Mongolia in the XVII century as the Mongolian Buddhism, urban planning, architecture and art history were rediscovered and explored. The results were introduced into scientific circulation and conributed significantly to the research of this period. The article considers the sculptural works of Undur Gegen Dzanabazar on the basis of the data from the written sources and results of the archaeological research. The construction of the Ribogejaylin Gandan Shadduvlin Monastery (in Tib.: Wylie: ri bo dge rgyas dga' ldan bshad sgrub gling), now known as Сарьдагийн хийд monastery, dates back to 1654-1686. The monastery was built by the first Khalkha Bogdo Gegen Zhavzandamba hhutugt Undur Gegen Dzanabazar. The article considers the problem of the clay sculptures of the Buddhist deities connected with the creativity and works of Undur Gegen Dzanabazar, which were discovered during the archaeological excavations made at the site of the monastrery ruins. It is suggested that this monastery had been the main artistic center of the creativity of Undur Gegen Dzanabazar.