Mongolia – on visiting an Ovoo

 

You wouldn't be surprised finding a cairn at the height of a mountain pass and such ways you'll find ovoos in Mongolia as well. But you can find ovoos also at other places, which are held to be sacred.

According to tengerism ovoos are dedicated to local deities or others gods of a vast pantheon.

Coming to an ovoo (овоо) you are supposed to circle it three times, moving clockwise, ito insure a saf journey. People bring an uneven number of rocks and add these to the pile [1]. People also wrap   blue khadags [2] around them. Blue symbolizes the sky or Tenger. You will alo find pots, ceramics, wheels, empty liquor bottles, prayer beads, horns of animals like the capricorn, and other items around ovoos.

There are also rituals held by shamans at the end of summer [3]. The might dance, recite ancient texts, consecrate the ovoo with airag or vodka. As for the recital of sacred texts, it has been observed that more frequently this is done by lamas. When it comes to folks religions the boundaries between bön and lamaism or tengerism and lamaism aren't as clear as we might have guessed. And juniper might be burnt as incense.

Links and Annotations:
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ovoo and https://rheumatologe.blogspot.com/2022/08/mongolia-little-ritual-on-departing.html
[2] Khadag (хадаг) is the Mogolian name for the ritual scarf, formerly made of silk, nowadays mostly made of polyester because of better durability. The Tibetan scarf is white to show the pureness of the giver's heart, whereas the Mongolian is blue as the sky. The origins lie both in lamaism as well as tengerism (better word for shamanism). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khata
[3] https://www.asiaculturaltravel.co.uk/the-mongolian-ovoo/ and https://www.mongolia-trips.com/travel-tips/religion/cult-ovoos

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Mongolia – a little Ritual on departing from a Ger Camp

One morning just before leaving one of the ger (yurt) camps, I witnessed a ritual. A young woman dripped airag onto the furgon's wheels. She mumbled something while doing that.

Let's get into some details. The woman wore a blue dress (deel [1]). Blue is an auspicious color, and so the khadags [2] that are also ritually presented or seen on ovoos [3] or stupas are also blue . She spreads the airag out of a pot with a special wooden instrument, which might otherwise be used to stir the airag.

Is it a Buddhist ritual? I don't want to rule that out, but it's unlikely. However, the popular religion does not always follow the guidelines of the official religion. Is it related to shamanism? A similar answer applies to this. I think it has more to do with guest and host. Perhaps it is part of the farewell, where the ritual cleaning of the hooves or wheels should ensure a safe journey.

Anyway, I would like to know more about this little ritual and like to thank the young lady for being so concerned with my (and my travel companions) safe journey.

Links and annotations:
[1] The deel (дээл) is still widely worn in Mongolia both by men and women.
[2] Khadag (хадаг) is the Mogolian name for the ritual scarf, formerly made of silk, nowadays mostly made of polyester because of better durability. The Tibetan scarf is white to show the pureness of the giver's heart, whereas the Mongolian is blue as the sky. The origins lie both in lamaism as well as tengerism. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khata
[3] The ovoo (овоо) often, not always, marks a pass. One could call it a cairn. People wrap khadags around them, circle it three times, throw an unequal number of stones on to it, or pot and beads for a safe journey. But this is a topic of its own. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ovoo

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