Mongolian Culture

Today we went to a cultural performance.  This gentleman singing is an amazing throat singer!

Gandantegchinlen Monastery

Callie, Me, Nan, Giannina, Paisley, Scott, Jerry

Avalokitesvara

 Tibetan-style Buddhist monastery in Ulaanbaatar has been restored since 1990. The Tibetan name translates to the "Great Place of Complete Joy". It currently has over 150 monks in residence. It features a 26.5-meter-high statue of Avalokiteśvara.

Callie and Me

Inside the Prayer Wheels are tibetan scripture

Gaining wisdom!!!

Prayer wheels are used to accumulate wisdom and merit (good karma) and to purify negativities (bad karma).
Tibetan scripture is placed inside each Wheel.  As you walk past and turn each Prayer Wheel as you go, the scripture and prayers are activated and you accumulate wisdom.  Focusing the mind as you turn increases its effectiveness.

Mongolian puppies are so cute!

At the Monastery, Puugee interprets for us

Monk at Gandan Monastery 

The man in white was our driver for the week.
He is the one that took us to church our last
morning in Mongolia!

In the 1930s, the Communist government of Mongolia, under the leadership of Khorloogiin Choibalsan and under the influence of Joseph Stalin, destroyed all but a few monasteries and killed more than 15,000 lamas.

Gandantegchinlen Khiid monastery, escaped this mass destruction and was closed in 1938, but then reopened in 1944.  It was allowed to continue as the only functioning Buddhist monastery.

Incense burns here 

Morin Khuur (Mongolian:"Морин хуур") is the national instrument of Mongolia.  It is a two-stringed instrument.  The body and the neck are carved from wood.  The end of the neck has the form of a horse-head and the sound is similar to a violin or a cello. The strings are made of dried deer or mountain sheep sinews. It is played with a bow made of willow, stringed with horsetail hair and coated with larch or cedar wood resin.


This young man told us the instrument was created because of the love a man had for his horse.  In remembrance of the deceased horse, the man carved the instrument and used his horses tail for the bow.  This young man was an amazing musician.  He played for us as we visited the Zaisan - Soviet Monument, over looking the city.

Zaisan Soviet Monument

The memorial painting on the Soviet Monument depicts scenes of friendship between Russia and Mongolia. It was built to commemorate Soviet soldiers in World War II. The sprawling mural also illustrates the defeat of the Japanese in 1939 and the victory over Nazi Germany

An Eagle at the Zaisan Soviet Monument

Tibetan Buddha

For the drum and the bell, you are supposed to make a wish and then hit the bell and drum three times to make it come true.

A Shaman ger in Ulaanbaatar where locals go to be healed

Choijin Lama Temple Museum

This temple museum is right in the middle of downtown Ulaanbaatar. It was the home of Luvsan Haidav Choijin Lama (‘Choijin’ is an honorary title given to some monks), the state oracle and brother of the Bogd Khan. Construction of the monastery began in 1904 and was completed four years later. It was closed in 1938 and probably would have been demolished if it wasn't saved in 1942 to serve as a museum demonstrating the ‘feudal’ ways of the past. Although religious freedom in Mongolia began again in 1990, this monastery is no longer an active place of worship.

There are five temples on the grounds.  The first temple you see is the Maharaja Süm . The main temple has statues of Sakyamuni (the historical Buddha), Choijin Lama and Baltung Choimba (the teacher of the Bogd Khan), whose mummified remains are inside the statue. There are also some fine thangka s and some of the best tsam masks in the country. The gongkhang (protector chapel) behind the main hall contains the oracle’s throne and a magnificent statue of yab-yum (mystic sexual union).

The other temples are Zuu Süm , dedicated to Sakyamuni; Yadam Süm , which contains wooden and bronze statues of various gods, some created by the famous Mongolian sculptor Zanabazar; and Amgalan Süm , containing a self-portrait of Zanabazar himself and a small stupa apparently brought to Ulaanbaatar by Zanabazar from Tibet

I love this juxtaposition of old and new Mongolia

It was so interesting to see the paintings and Gods in the temples.  We weren't allowed to take pictures inside.  One of the paintings was a depiction of "Hot Hell".  This is where you will go if you physically sin.  There was also a painting of "Cold Hell" which shows the torment a person endures if they sin with their words and their thoughts.

Some Mongolian words I have learned:
San ben oh - Hello, are you good?
Bacca - Bye
Buyer teh - Goodbye
Head way - How much?
Buyer shlaw - Thank you

Disclaimer: this is not the Mongolian spelling but rather the phonetic English spelling


Goat and Sheep ankle bones are used to tell fortunes and play games similar to marbles.

 

This is the Genghis Khan Equestrian Statue in Mongolia

We climbed to the very top and stood on his mane to take a picture!

On Genghis Khan's mane

Victims of Political Persecution Memorial Museum

In front of the Victims of Political Persecution Museum

 This museum has many haunting displays that chronicle the communist purges of the 1930s – an aggressive campaign to eliminate ‘counter-revolutionaries’. During the campaign, intellectuals were arrested and put on trial, sent to Siberian labour camps or shot. Mongolia lost its top writers, scientists and thinkers.

The building that houses the museum is one of the oldest in Ulaanbaatar. It was once the home of former prime minister P Genden, who was executed in Moscow by the KGB in 1937 for refusing Stalin’s orders to carry out the purge. Stalin found a more willing puppet in Marshall Choibalsan, whose purge ended in the deaths of more than 27,000 Mongolians, mostly lamas. On the ground floor of the museum is a replica of Genden's office, with his desk and other personal effects.

Victims of Political Persecution Memorial Museum

The numbers of those killed

Despite the massive destruction, Mongolians love the Russians!