Setsen Khan's Palace Museum

Ethnographic museum located in Öndörkhaan in eastern Mongolia, specialized in displaying historical and cultural artifacts of the Khentii aimag.

Setsen Khan's Palace Museum
Image taken from the Facebook page of the Khentii Provincial Museum.
Type:	Ethnographic Museum
Country:	Mongolia
Establishment:	1982

The Setsen Khan's Palace Museum (Mongolian: Сэцэн хааны ордон музей) is an ethnographic museum located in Öndörkhaan, Eastern Mongolia, specialized in displaying historical and cultural artifacts of the Khentii aimag.

History

The museum is located inside a monastery established during the 18th century.^[1] In ancient times, the building was known as "Altan Jan" (Mongolian: Алтан жан), used by the khans as an administrative building of the aimag/province as well as a residence.^[2] It was built by order of the Tsetsen Khan (Mongolian: Сэцэн хан), and was converted into an ethnographic museum in 1982. In 2008, the building was declared a national landmark by the Mongolian Ministry of Culture.^[3]

Collections

The temple complex comprises different structures such as Setsen Choijin (Mongolian: Сээцэн Чойжин) known to be a building that stores ancient books, a room specialized in religious traditions (Mongolian: Шашин мөргөлийн танхим lit. Hall of Worship), in addition to a room dedicated to the khans who ruled this region of Mongolia in ancient times.^[4]

The museum has collections of Buddhist artifacts, as well as tools used in Mongolian shamanism, in addition to ethnographic objects from different Khentii communities such as the Hamnigan, Buryat and Khalkha. The museum also features historical artifacts dating from the Turkic Khanate period and the Mongol Empire, in addition to photographs of the use of horses as a means of transportation in the aimag, the museum also presents works made by the artisan Bradakh Ishjamts also known as Tojil (Mongolian: Тожил).^[5]

References

1. Campi, A. (2006). The rise of cities in nomadic Mongolia. Mongols from country to city: Floating boundaries, pastoralism and city life in the Mongol lands, 21-55.

2. Odontungalag, D. (2022-05-27). Сэцэн ханы ордон музей. Montsame News Agency. (in Mongolian)

3. Lhamsuren, B. (2001). Халхын хаадын төгсгөл: Сэцэн Хан Навааннэрэн (Юндэнбазар)-ийн цадиг оршивой. “Согоо Нуур” Хэвлэлийн Компани. (Page 19) (in Mongolian)

4. Дэлхийн өв: Бурхан халдун уул, түүнийг хүрээлсэн тахилгат газар нутаг [World Heritage: Mount Burhan Khaldun and the sacred area surrounding it] (2019) Mongolia's National Center for Cultural Heritage (Page 67) (in Mongolian)

5. Хэнтий Аймгийн Музейн Танилцуулга. [Introduction to the Khentii Provincial Museum] (2020-04-15). Khentii Aimag Official Website. (in Mongolian)