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Out and About 14: Cultural revitalisation in the Gobi

Whilst Delgeruun Choira monastery’s (D.C.) student Lamas and lams continue their studies, including the transcription and memorisation of Sakya Pandita texts, reconstruction and revitalisation of the D.C. monastastic precinct in the Gobi continues unabated. Here in Mongolia, Sakya Pandita Kunga Gyeltsen (1182-1251) is regarded as a great scholar. He was proficient in the five great sciences of Buddhist philosophy, medicine, grammar, dialectics and sacred Sanskrit literature as well as the minor sciences of rhetoric, synonymies, poetry, music, dancing and astrology. He first met Genghis Khan’s grandson Mongolian Prince Godan in early 1247, after which he became the main agent of the Mongols in Tibetan affairs until the Prince’s death in 1251. Prince Godan commissioned Sakya Pandita to create the Mongolian Quadratic Script, Phags-pa. 8 September 2025. Photo: C. Pleteshner.

Plate note: Whilst Delgeruun Choira monastery’s (D.C.) student Lamas and lams continue their studies, including the transcription and memorisation of Sakya Pandita texts (sarka and tsigched) reconstruction and revitalisation of the D.C. precinct in the Dundgobi continues unabated. Here in Mongolia, Sakya Pandita Kunga Gyeltsen (1182-1251) is regarded as a great scholar. He was proficient in the five great sciences of Buddhist philosophy, medicine, grammar, dialectics and sacred Sanskrit literature as well as the minor sciences of rhetoric, synonymies, poetry, music, dancing and astrology. Sakya Pandita first met Genghis Khan’s grandson Mongolian Prince Godan in early 1247, after which he became the main agent of the Mongols in Tibetan affairs until the Prince’s death in 1251. It was Prince Godan who commissioned Sakya Pandita to create the Mongol Phags-pa Quadratic Script. 8 September 2025. Photo: C. Pleteshner.

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FURTHER READING

For another encounter with Mongolian visual and cultural forms, see Motif 03: Dragons Dancing with Blue Wind

For more on objects, place, and Buddhist revitalisation, see Artscape 08: Revitalising the life of social objects

For a reflection on an earlier period of Mongolian social life, see Artscape 07: During the socialist times

Readers interested in processes of change may also wish to read Landscape 02: a Social Matrix for Local Reconstruction

For more on the relationship between local communities, place, and reconstruction, see Landscape 02: A Social Matrix for Local Reconstruction.

For a contemporary intercultural encounter in the Gobi, see Out and About 03: Asia-Pacific Inter-cultural Meeting at Gobi’s Delgertsogt Mountain

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© 2013-2026. CP in Mongolia. This post is licensed under the  Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Documents linked from this page may be subject to other restrictions.  Posted: 16 September 2025. Last updated: 5 September 2026.