Mongolian Matters » culture

Islamic Find in Mongolia

khuushuur — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 14:53:59 +0000

Islam Finder - Mongolia

The recent visit of president Rahmon of Tajikistan to Mongolia was the last one in a row of Islamic dignitaries. But also on the web, the islamic side of Mongolia becomes more apperent. There is a website that lists the prayer times in Mongolia. Of the Indian restaurants in town only Hazara gets a listing. Not sure if that reflects the religious orientation of the owners. Funny enough there is also mentioning of the islamic employees at Oyu Tolgoi mines. Somehow i doubt they are Kazakh….

Maybe the new Hazara Scholarship student mentioned by Asian Gipsy will get a listing soon. Not related to the restauarant, but to the Mongol Hazara ethnic group. What a great initiative, and especially for a private foundation!

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Sar shiniin mend!

Aaruul — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 16:39:46 +0000

tand hair husey!

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Gregory Delaplace on Cinema in West Mongolia

khuushuur — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 13:21:55 +0000

An old invitation to a Mongol Kino movie show.

The young but renowned anthropologist Gregory Delaplace has opened the doors of his new personal website. It is an interesting mix of several topics that he has covered over the years. From ghost stories and “things invisible” to hiphop.

One of the most interesting bits is on the history of cinema in the west of Mongolia. It paints a picture of how cinema was spread in the socialist ages and how it rapidly declined in the days after.

The first cinema showing 35mm movies in Ulaangom was opened in 1954: not yet a proper kinoteatr, it was just a little building hosting a projector and a few spectators. The same year, jeeps (GAZ-51) were provided so that to widen the range of movie touring. At that time, some 30 programs were shown in the whole aimag, and each touring unit would cover 5 to 6 sum. The techniques were still poor though, and screening quality remained bad.

The report is co-authored by Vincent Micoud and developed in cooperation with a researcher from the Osaka National Museum of Ethnology.

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Genghis Khan On Sukhbaatar Square

khuushuur — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 09:57:00 +0000

Chinggis Khaan (Genghis Khan) has finally fully claimed his thrown again on Sukhbaatar square where this weekend the impressive gallery was revealed. Already during Nadaam time many dignitaries came to pay respect to Chinggis Khaan, including international princes and prime-ministers, but only recently the construction was entirely completed. At last the sizable Chinggis can confidently oversee his people, including a lone horse rider on the middle of the square.

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Japan’s Genghis Khan Craze #1154: Shall we do a movie?

khuushuur — Thu, 23 Feb 2006 14:27:00 +0000

Japan is preparing another movie on Chinggis Khaan. Arrangements have been made with the Mongolian side, who will contribute as well. To make it a little more easy to look authentic they will film during the high season in the most touristy places.

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Mongolia’s Genghis Khan Craze #1153: Shall we build a Statue?

khuushuur — Wed, 15 Feb 2006 15:11:00 +0000

Plans were announced to build a 40-metre high statue on Tsonjin Boldog hill, 53km outside
Ulaanbaatar. The steel statue of Chinggis Khaan, holding a golden whip, is to be financed by the Genco Tour Bureau.

(to put things in perspective, the dots on the white part are actually people)

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Mongolia’s Genghis Khan Craze #1152: Airport renamed

khuushuur — Tue, 24 Jan 2006 10:21:00 +0000

Now that even the airport is being renamed Chinggis Khaan, I suppose it is only a matter of time before Ulaanbaatar will turn into Chinggis Khot.

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Anniversary of Danzanravjaa

khuushuur — Thu, 19 Jan 2006 08:28:00 +0000

Today marks the 150th anniversary the death of Danzanravjaa – the “Fifth Wrathful Noble Saint of the Gobi”, one of the greatest literary figures and educators in Mongolian history. Born in 1803, Danzanravjaa produced a remarkable output of songs, poems and teachings, in addition to founding Mongolia’s first museum, theatre, and mixed school.
The anniversary is to be commemorated on an international scale, with a program of special events to be held throughout the year. Danzanravjaa is one of 42 historical figures whose anniversaries will be celebrated in 2006-2007 by UNESCO.

Among the actions to commemorate this anniversary:

The Arts Council of Mongolia is implementing a one-year project to improve facilities for the conservation of the unique and historically important cultural artifacts of the Danzanravjaa Museum in Sainshand, and to ensure appropriate maintenance of the museum’s collection of objects and books through museum staff training (http://www.artscouncil.mn/marketing_program4.html). This one year project was awarded by the US Ambassadors Cultural Heritage grants fund in competition with countries from all over Asia and started its implementation in July 2005.
Restoration of Khamar Monastery in the East Gobi, former seat of Danzanravjaa, is to continue throughout 2006, with the completion of the “Shambhala Land” complex of 108 stupas and the improvement of the monastery’s circumambulation path.
Ten young monks have been sent to India with the sponsorship of Miserior (www.tilopa.net) and the US-based Kunzang Palyul Chöling (www.tara.org). It is hoped that these young monks will return to help re-establish Khamar Monastery as a leading centre of Mongolian Buddhism.
INMongolia Consulting Ltd. is to release a CD of songs by Danzanravjaa, performed by leading Mongolian artists. The release will coincide with events held to commemorate the anniversary of Danzanravjaa in summer 2006. Danzanravjaa’s songs continue to enjoy considerable popularity throughout Mongolia today, with “Ulemjiin Chanar” and other works taking an important place in the folk repertoire (www.inmongolia.com).
Further biographical information can be found at www.danzanravjaa.org.

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Can’t worship Buddha right way

khuushuur — Tue, 16 Aug 2005 07:32:00 +0000

In “The Transformation of Household Rituals in Mongolia: One History of Religions in a Modern Nomadistic Society” by Japanese researcher Katsuhiko TAKIZAWA, I came across an interesting observation:

An informant told me that he gave Buddha’s images, sutras and the other Buddhist tools to Gandan Monastery at the time of his father’s death in 1977, because he didn’t know how to worship Buddha right way. This mentality of “those who can’t worship Buddha right way must not have Buddha’s images” was found in many informants’ talk. This mentality often accompanies the idea of “curse”.

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UNESCO World Heritage Sites for Mongolia

khuushuur — Sat, 09 Jul 2005 07:19:00 +0000

An overview of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites of Mongolia: The Orkhon Valley and Uvs Nuur basin.

The Orkhon Valley

The 121,967-ha Orkhon Valley Cultural Landscape encompasses an extensive area of pastureland on both banks of the Orkhon River and includes numerous archaeological remains dating back to the 6th century. The site also includes Kharkhorum, the 13th and 14th century capital of Chingis (Genghis) Khan’s vast Empire. Collectively the remains in the site reflect the symbiotic links between nomadic, pastoral societies and their administrative and religious centres, and the importance of the Orkhon valley in the history of central Asia. The grassland is still grazed by Mongolian nomadic pastoralists.
Justification for Inscription

Criterion (ii): The Orkhon valley clearly demonstrates how a strong and persistent nomadic culture, led to the development of extensive trade networks and the creation of large administrative, commercial, military and religious centres. The empires that these urban centres supported undoubtedly influenced societies across Asia and into Europe and in turn absorbed influence from both east and west in a true interchange of human values.

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Criterion (iii): Underpinning all the development within the Orkhon valley for the past two millennia has been a strong culture of nomadic pastoralism. This culture is still a revered and indeed central part of Mongolian society and is highly respected as a ‘noble’ way to live in harmony with the landscape.

Criterion (iv): The Orkhon valley is an outstanding example of a valley that illustrates several significant stages in human history. First and foremost it was the centre of the Mongolian Empire; secondly it reflects a particular Mongolian variation of Turkish power; thirdly, the Tuvkhun hermitage monastery was the setting for the development of a Mongolian form of Buddhism; and fourthly, Khar Balgas, reflects the Uighur urban culture in the capital of the Uighur Empire.

Uvs Nuur basin

The Uvs Nuur Basin (1,068,853 ha), is the northernmost of the enclosed basins of Central Asia. It takes its name from Uvs Nuur Lake, a large, shallow and very saline lake, important for migrating birds, waterfowl and seabirds. The site is made up of twelve protected areas representing the major biomes of eastern Eurasia. The steppe ecosystem supports a rich diversity of birds and the desert is home to a number of rare gerbil, jerboas and the marbled polecat. The mountains are an important refuge for the globally endangered snow leopard, mountain sheep (argali) and the Asiatic ibex.
Justification for Inscription

Criterion (ii): The closed salt lake system of Uvs Nuur is of international scientific importance because of its climatic and hydrological regimes. Because of the unchanging nature of the nomadic pastoral use of the grasslands within the basin over thousands of years, current research programmes should be able to unravel the rate at which Uvs Nuur (and other smaller lakes within the basin) have become saline (and eutrophic). These processes are on-going and because of its unique geophysical and biological characteristics, the basin has been chosen as an IGBP site for monitoring global warming. Criterion (iv): The Uvs Nuur site has a large range of ecosystems, representing the major biomes of eastern Eurasia, with a number of endemic plants. Although the basin is inhabited and has been used for nomadic pastoralism for thousands of years, the mountains, forests, steppes and deserts are extremely important habitats for a wide range of wild animals, many of them threatened or endangered. The steppe ecosystem supports a rich diversity of birds and the deserts a number of rare gerbil, jerboas and the marbled polecat. The mountains at the western end of the basin are important refuges for the globally threatened snow leopard, mountain sheep (argali) and the Asiatic ibex. Uvs Nuur itself is an important habitat for waterfowl as well as for birds migrating south from Siberia.

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