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Zaya Bandida
(Full name: Erdene Zaya Bandida Luvsanperenlei)
One of three Xutagt worshipped by the Xalx Mongols as living Buddhas, Erdene Zaya Bandida Luvsanperenlei (1642-1715) was born in what is now Cecerleg sum of Arxangai aimag. He was the second son of Suntar and Orxidai, and belonged to the lineage of Chingis Xaan. During his childhood, he became literate in both Mongolian and Tibetan languages and demonstrated a love of reading. He studied in Tibet from 1669-1679, most of which time he spent in the Dashlhumbe temple. Luvsanperenlei became renowned among the wise scholars of Tibet for his great knowledge, for which the fifth Dalai Lama bestowed on him the religious title "Zaya Bandida" or "Victorious Bandida".
Upon his return to Mongolia, Zaya Bandida offered religious teachings, founded temples, and treated the ill, in addition to writing treatises and poems. In 1696 he built the Gu'den Temple, where he resided and led religious services, as well as maintaining a famous library on the second floor, which he founded with nineteen oxcarts of sutras brought from Tibet.
Zaya Bandida wrote a biography of Tu'sheet Xan of the Xalx, in addition to treatises on history, Buddhist philosophy, literary theory, and religious rituals and customs. The first two volumes of his collected works include Bogd Zonxovyn utgyn guchin tavan chimeg (Thirty-Five Ornaments on the Philosophy of Tsong-xa-pa), Yanzhing bayasgax duun egshig (Songs to Appease Lha-mo [Sarsvatidevi]), Banchin bogdyn to'ro'l daraallyn zalbiral suvd erxi (Pearl Rosary of Prayer for the Incarnations of the Panchen Lama), Dalai lamyn to'ro'l daraallyn zalbiral xu'sliig xangagch (Prayer for Granting the Wishes of the Incarnation of the Dalai Lama) and other prayers, as well as eulogies to different deities, dharinis, and various offering-prayers; the remaining four volumes include summaries of the Bkah-hgyur and Bstan-hgyur, biographies of important Buddhist scholars, and Buddhist histories, legends and teachings.