About the treasure

In 1937, when the mongolian army raided the monasteries and killed the monks or at least forced them to renounce their monastic vows, the „Takhilch“ (caretaker) of Danzan Ravjaa’s legacy, a man called Tuduv, began to bury the crates with the belongings of Danzan Ravjaa in the Gobi desert.

Every night, in total secrecy, he loaded one crate onto his horse and dug a hole somewhere in the desert. He did not take any notes nor did he tell anyone in his family or the Khamariin Hiid monastery, where the boxes were kept since Danzan Ravjaas death. He just knew that it was his obligation as Takhilch, to protect the legacy by all means.

The content of the boxes is as precious as you can imagine: statues, paintings, original manuscripts, opera costumes, ritual objects and much more.

After he managed to bury 64 boxes (out of a total of 1500) the stalinist army also raided Khamariin Hiid and everything else was lost.

Tuduv kept his secret, until he chose his grandson Altangerel, born in 1960, as his successor. His grandfather prepared him for his role as the next Takhilch for more than 20 years. After Tuduvs death in 1987 and the end of the communist regime in 1989, Altangerel founded the Danzan Ravjaa Museum in Sainshand and begin to unearth the treasures. Some of the boxes were lost or stolen, but the greater part of its contents is now on display in Altangerels museum.

But there are still 15 boxes buried in the sand, and two of them will be unearthed together with Altangerel in our international live event on August 1st, 2009.

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