Abtai Sain Khan, ruler of the Khalkh Mongols and grandfather of Zanabazar, the first Jebtsundamba Khutuktu, ordered construction of the Erdene Zuu monastery in 1585 after his meeting with the 3rd Dalai Lama and the declaration of Tibetan Buddhism as the state religion of Mongolia.
== Viri ==* Living in Mongolia== Zunanje povezave ==*Official website of the Gandan Monastery*Photos of monastery*Article*Photos*Article on Ulaanbaatar with a section on the monastery*Buddhism in Mongolia After 1990*An interview with Tibetologist Glenn H. Mullin