Who built this Siberian summer palace… and why?

Siberian Times ^ | 12 November 2014 | Derek Lambie

[SunkenCiv]

Outer walls standing 10 metres tall and 12 metres wide formed a rectangular shape... Walls on the inside were smaller, at about one metre-tall, forming the outline of buildings, with a large building in the centre of the site. Some of the walls and panels were covered with lime plaster painted with horizontal red striped...

'The building was most likely of the post-and-beam construction characteristic of Chinese architecture from the T’ang Dynasty,' wrote head archaeologist Irina Arzhantseva in a report published in The European Archaeologist in 2011.

'Finds of burnt timber fragments point to the use of the typical Chinese technique of interlocking wooden brackets, called dou-gung. Ramps led down to the two flanking galleries which were roofed, open spaces looking onto the access to the main pavilion.'

While debate continues about the use of Por-Bajin, there is growing evidence it was a community or palace complex centred around a Buddhist monastery. Certainly, there is an argument that its layout is typical of the palaces of the Buddhist Paradises as depicted in T’ang paintings...

What puzzles the experts, however, is the lack of rudimentary heating systems, particularly given that Por-Bajin sits at 2,300 metres above sea level and endures harsh Siberian weather...

'Archaeological and geomorphological fieldwork revealed traces of at least two earthquakes which had accelerated the natural process of deterioration. The first of these seems to have happened already during the construction of the ‘fortress’ in the 8th century.

'It is not yet quite clear how long the buildings survived after the abandonment of the site in the 9th century, but some time after the abandonment there was another catastrophic earthquake which led to fires and to the collapse of the southern and eastern enclosure walls, and destroyed the north-western corner bastion.'

[SunkenCiv]

I’ve heard of those, but I’ve never seen a duck with dark glasses and a cane.

[Salamander]

But Ted Nugent found it everywhere else.

[Grimmy]

“The Kildar...”

I don’t have a Ghost of an idea to what you’re referring.

[BigIsleGal]

Weren’t some monks responsible for high mountain rescues with their brandy & trained St.Bernard dogs? Maybe the same type of operations out in the boonies.
Just an uneducated theory.

[colorado tanker]

The lack of an obvious heating system is a real problem and from the photos I don't see any trees on the shore. It is located in Tuva where the average daily high is something like 10 below zero in January. So, whatever it was it must have been seasonal.

At the time the Tuvans were under the control of the Uighur Khanate, but forts were rarely occupied seasonally.

The Tuvans are Buddhist, so it might have been a monastery. Many young men in Buddhist countries live with monks for a time before setting out in secular life. A warm season camp for them?