ULAN BATOR, MONGOLIA, August 27, 2006: The Dalai Lama, Mongolia’s most revered religious figure, is visiting this week, but some here sway with religious fervor for Canadian evangelist Peter Yongren. Mongolia’s capital is hosting not only the Dalai Lama and Yongren this week, but also Indian guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, underscoring the explosion of faiths this nation has seen since the end of communist rule in 1990. The Mormon church has its own temple and missionaries, and Hindu and Muslim groups are expanding. While only a small minority seems to have taken up new faiths, the increasing presence of other religions is posing a challenge to the traditional authority of Buddhist monks.
Mongolia has a long tradition of religious tolerance and respect. Even while Mongol armies were looting their way across Asia and Europe in the Middle Ages, their leaders allowed Christians, Buddhists, Muslims and others to freely proselytize throughout conquered regions. “It’s really not so bad to have lots of types of religion operating here,” said D. Damba, a professor of Mongolian language, literature and religion at Mongolian State University. “It’s helpful for us to better know one another and it teaches respect, not hatred,” Damba said. Tibetan Buddhism was adopted as Mongolia’s de facto state religion in the 17th century and thrived for three centuries, until communist dictator Horloogiyn Choybalsan’s purges beginning in 1937 killed more than 10,000 monks. by 1944, Ulan Bator’s main monastery, Gandantegcheling, was the only official Buddhist institution left function. Today, new monasteries have risen across the capital and the rest of the country.