20-24 septembrie 2009 - Biblioteca Metropolitana Bucuresti

Ritual and state in contemporary Mongolia. The case of Chinggis Khan 565day circumambulations are regularly co-organized by Buddhist monasteriesand environmentalist movements.The cult starts at sunrise. Stars, sun and moon are invoked andinvited “to spread fair actions and alleviate sufferings”; at the public ovoo,the popular deity Namsarai, a Buddhist figure of prosperity, is calledupon for the benefit of all the families; alcohol (vodka) is sprinkled andpeople make circular gestures toward themselves for calling prosperity,then festivities, in particular the three manly games (wrestling, horse racesand archery) take place. Monks chant Buddhist prayers. People invoke thenames of Mongolia’s main mountains and rivers and sprinkle alcohol intheir direction. The main ritual takes place at the highest ovoo. There is infact not one cairn but a collection of twenty surrounding a main one in thecentre. A horse rider is drawn on a wide cloth floating in the wind: it is “skyof Envy” (Ataa tenger) that, according to the organizers, was venerated byChinggis’ lineage founder, Bodončar. A pale-colored stallion is led to thewest of the sacrificial place; will be consecrated to the mountain (set free)at the end of the ceremony. The shaman chants the invocation of the spiritof Mount Khentei. Then an official representative reads aloud the text ofthe presidential decree, which is afterwards burned in the fire lit in frontof the main ovoo, as an “offering to heaven”, then he attaches a white silkto the tree [set on the cairn], followed by the other participants who do thesame. 24Behind the ovoo, on a white felt, a support for the black standard ofChinggis Khan has been prepared. 25 . The military brass band plays thenational anthem, and then the “invitation of the black standard” (khar süldiinuria duudlaga). The standard is then set on its support and the standardbearerrecites the “prayer to the golden standard” (altan süldiin mörgöl):that moment of the ritual is called “pleasing Chinggis Khan’s black bannervisible from afar” and reminds of the shamanic ritual when the spirit isentertained after being invited to come down into a support. Towards theend of the ceremony, the participants touch with the forehead a ritual silk(khadag) attached to the standard, expecting to obtain blessings, a gesturesimilar to the Buddhist gesture of benediction (adis avakh).24On documents concerning the 2006 ritual, I remember seeing a long piece ofblue silk that was burned as an offering, as well as a large portrait of Chinggis Khan, alsoburned. This last point needs clearing.25According to the keepers of Chinggis Khan’s shrine in Ordos in Inner Mongolia,this standard is the emanation of “heaven above” (the power of which the Mongolianemperors invoke to legitimate their conquest), hence the prescription of keeping it alwaysoutside.