An expedition led by Michael Eisenriegler has found the Buddhist relics which belonged to the 19th century Buddhist master Danzan Ravjaa. The relics, which include statues, art work, manuscripts and personal belongings, were hidden in the 1930s during Mongolia’s Communist purge. Hundreds of Buddhist monasteries were destroyed and looted during this time.
In order to save the relics from destruction they were hidden in a total of 64 crates. These crates where buried in the Gobi Desert by a Buddhist monk called Tudev. Tudev passed the secret of the relics’ locations on to his grandson who was able to rediscover some of the boxes in 1990. Michael Eisenriegler’s expedition has unearthed two more of the historically and religiously important crates.
