Mongolia – Genghis Khan Equestrian Statue

 

The Genghis Khan Equestrian Statue (Чингис хааны морьт хөшөө) is 40 meters (130 ft) high and depicts Genghis Khan on a horse. It is the tallest equestrian statue in the world [1]. The complex is located about 54 km southeast of Ulaanbaatar (Улаанбаатар) on the southern terrace of the Tuul River (Туул голын), the place is called Tsonjin (Цонжин), which is in Central Province. And one could now consider why not a location closer to Ulaanbaatar was chosen for the equestrian monument. Well, the reason for this lies in the legend that Emperor Genghis Khan had found his golden riding crop there. A golden riding crop can also be admired on the statue. The statue, which stands silver shining in the landscape, also includes a whole complex and below the huge steel statue in the basement there is a small historical-ethnographic museum; I found it very worth visiting. Interestingly, it wasn't overcrowded, although there was a lot of activity upstairs due to the proximity of the Naadam festival, so one can assume that there would be more peace and quiet at other times.

The 40 meters already mentioned are divided into 30 meters for the statue itself and a 10 meter high structure on which this statue stands. “The monument was built with a total of 250 tons of quality steel.” This basic structure is surrounded by 36 columns. You can take an elevator up inside or use the stairs to get to a viewing platform from which you have a great view of the landscape.

Some tourists believe that it is the burial site of Genghis Khan [2], but this location is unknown. It is believed to be located on the Mongol sacred mountain of Burkhan Khaldun (Бурхан Халдун уул) in the Khentii Mountains (Хэнтийн нуруу). Despite archaeological search expeditions, the site has not been discovered. Genghis Khan went to this holy mountain to pray to the sky god before he began the campaign to unite the Mongols and other peoples of the steppe. After the beginning of the Mongol Empire, this area became known as Ikh Khorig or the Great Tabu. Only members of the Mongolian imperial family, also called the golden family, were allowed into this area. An area of around 240 square kilometers had been cordoned off. Intrusion by unauthorized persons was punishable by death (what else?). A few years ago (2015), Dr Albert Yu-Min Lin from the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology at the University of California, San Diego, started a project to find possible locations using images from space. Around 55 archaeologically interesting sites have been found where Genghis Khan's final resting place could potentially be located. I'm usually all for archaeological research, but I have my concerns in this case. So much is known about the Great Khan that the scientific value is probably less than the sensation of the find. I think, leave leave the remains of Genghis Khan alone.

The Mausoleum of Genghis Khan (成吉思汗陵) is located in Inner Mongolia, the People's Republic of China. Inner Mongolia is a somewhat strange term, but it does not come from the People's Republic of China, but has been used since ancient times. Outer Mongolia (外蒙) was used to describe the area of today's state of Mongolia and Inner Mongolia (内蒙) was used to describe the part of Mongolia that is now the autonomous Mongolian region in the People's Republic of China (Өвөр Монголын Өөртөө Засах Орон). Mausoleum is also not a correct term, it would be better to call this place Lord's Enclosure (i.e. shrine), the traditional name among the Mongolians, since the body is not buried there. "The main hall is actually a cenotaph where the coffin contains no body (only headdresses and accessories), because the actual tomb of Genghis Khan has never been discovered." There is an increasing turn to shamanism, or rather tengrism, not only in Mongolia, but also in Inner Mongolia, which explains this mausoleum. I could also imagine other motives, such as meeting the needs of the PRC's domestic tourism, but that is speculation.

Is the Genghis Khan Equestrian Statue worth visiting? In any case, you should take advantage of the opportunity to visit. There may be more people visiting around a holiday, but seeing how Mongolian visitors interact with the memorial is also interesting.

Links and Annotations:
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equestrian_statue_of_Genghis_Khan and https://mn.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A7%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%B3%D0%B8%D1%81_%D1%85%D0%B0%D0%B0%D0%BD%D1%8B_%D0%BC%D0%BE%D1%80%D1%8C%D1%82_%D1%85%D3%A9%D1%88%D3%A9%D3%A9
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burial_place_of_Genghis_Khan
[3] https://mn.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D3%A8%D0%B2%D3%A9%D1%80_%D0%9C%D0%BE%D0%BD%D0%B3%D0%BE%D0%BB

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Mongolia – Gandan or better Gandantegchinlen Monastery in Ulaanbaatar Part 2

 

Let's come to the second part of my visit to Gandan (Гандан) Monastery or better Gandantegchinlen (Гандантэгчинлэн хийд) Monastery in Ulaanbaatar [1], which is dedicated to the area, where one can look at the monumental statue of Avalokiteshvara.

Open lights are only permitted in an extra building

Inside the temple there are more prayer wheels

The tall Avalokiteshvara temple (Мэгжид Жанрайсиг Сүм) had been build in 1913 [2]. It houses the 26.5-meter-high statue of Avalokiteshvara, also called Janraisig. However, this temple had already been founded in 1727 by the 4th Emperor of the Qing (清代) dynasty, Yongzhen (雍正) , one of the sons of Emperor Kangxi (康熙) [3]. The original statue has been dismantled in 1938. The new statue has been erected in 1996 and this was possible due to donations by the Mongolian people. The statue featured more than 2,000 precious stones and is gilded with gold leaf.

Janraisig's body is filled with samples of crops,a variety of foods and drinks, medicinal herbs, juniper, Buddhist teachings, rare Buddhist clothing, and a book with 2 million mantras, and much more [4].

The small figurines at the walls are also worth looking at

Links and Annotations:
[1] Here's to look for the first part: https://rheumatologe.blogspot.com/2022/09/mongolia-gandan-or-better.html
[2] https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gandan-Kloster
[3] A still important dictionary is named after Kangxi and I already quoted it this year: https://rheumatologe.blogspot.com/2022/07/seit-wann-wird-tee-in-china-getrunken.html and also here, where there's also a picture of the cover: https://rheumatologe.blogspot.com/2022/04/tee-und-einige-aspekte-aus-sinologie.html (both text in German, however).
[4] https://peak.mn/news/megjid-janraisig-burkhnii-tuukh Мэгжид Жанрайсиг бурхны түүх. Дэлхийн II дайны үед Мэгжид Жанрайсиг бурхныг буулгаж их биеийг нь Орос руу явуулж хайлуулан сум хийсэн байдаг.

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Mongolia – Gandan or better Gandantegchinlen Monastery in Ulaanbaatar Part 1

Gandan (Гандан) Monastery or better Gandantegchinlen (Гандантэгчинлэн хийд) Monastery lies in Ulaanbaatar and has been rebuild during the past 30 years. „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. It came under state protection in 1994.“ [1] Therefore I decided to split writing about Gandan Monastery in two parts – the first part is dedicated to the area of the medidation center and the morning ceremony and the second part is dedicated to the area, where one can look at the monumental statue of Avalokiteshvara.





The first temple of the monastery has been constructed in 1809 and if interested, check the Wikipedia article for more knowledge on the history of the buildings. Important aer the 1930ies, when quite a lot of the sacral building have been destroyed and 15,000 lamas had been killed (the number still is uncertain). After the fall of the Soviet Union and end of Marxist rule in Mongolia in 1990, worship was possible again, monasteries were rebuild the statue of Avalokiteshvara has been reconstructed, and the monks came back.





I was very surprised looking at the two monks blowing the shell as a call for the morning ceremony. I had watched this in Tikse (Thiksay) in Ladakh [2], which looked more colorful and impressive, but non the less it gave a touch of both sincerity and tradition to the Ulaanbaatar monastery. I could see the monks joking and bustling to the assembly hall, where they chanted sacred scripts, which are printed as in fomer times. I had seen this in Tibet at Narthang Monastery [3].





One observation: I've seen a lesser number of prayer wheels than in Tibet or Ladakh.

Links and Annotations:
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gandantegchinlen_Monastery
[2] https://rheumatologe.blogspot.com/2020/07/a-morning-at-thiksay-gompa.html
[3] https://rheumatologe.blogspot.com/2018/08/narthang-monastery.html

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Mongolia – in and out of the State Department Store or Fountain Pens

Market and State Department Store

The State Department Store in Ulaanbaatar lies within the 1 km radius around Sükhbaatar / Chinggis Square and I went there on my last day just to have had a look at this store. Mighty fine department store! On the uppermost story they had a large show on school utensils as school was going to start soon again.

They may sparkle in sunlight, but the points are dull

I looked at ballpoint pens, rollerball [1] pens, gel pens, marker pens, stylus pens, felt pens, lead pencils, crayons and … no fountain pens. I was looking for a fountain pen. I had been searching in Cologne, but you won't get a simple pen, you may buy a high end fountain pen, which is useless unless you are CEO and want to impress when you sign a contract, or you find fountain pens for pupils, which are ergonomically adapted to the young writer's hand. I had bought fountain pens, which suit me well, before while travelling through China, though people use fountain pens less frequently nowadays due to the use of electronic devices and people loose their ability of actively writing Chinese characters [2]. So I was looking for a fountain pen in the State Department Store in Ulaanbaatar and didn't find one!

 

Poor Mongolian kids! Maybe they could sing along with Adele:
"We've could have had it all"

I had entered the department store by a side entrance, but was leaving via the front entrance. Across Peace Avenue you find another avenue with a broad middle portion where there was some kind of market. The market featured the same topic as the uppermost story in the department store: equipping school kids, from school uniforms to bag, caps and of course stationery. I went through all of the pens. And then luck struck! I was able to buy three fountain pens. The whole stock of the market! I admit I acted totally without scruples.

It isn't the "Ork Empire"!

Links and Annotations:
[1] Just a short deviation from the tracks: James Caan in „Rollerball“.
[2] https://www.facebook.com/asianboss/videos/1791405304228612
[3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYEDA3JcQqw

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Mongolia – Sükhbaatar Square

 

When I started writing this blogpost I was taken by surprise. The square's name looks in German: Sukhbaatar Platz. If you look at the Cyrillic script – Сүхбаатарын талбай, you see that ü is correct. Now, German is notorious for its umlaute. Maybe it's an idiosyncrasy as in Türkmenistan [1] – or should I say idiosyncrazy? Another name for Ulaanbaatar's central square is Chinggis Square (Чингисийн талбай), which is also the name that my German travel guide-book lists [2]. The name change took place in 2013 and though the Democratic Party maintains that one wants to honor Chinggis Khaan, whose statue overlooks the square from the north end, but there's also the statue of the revolutionary hero on a horse in the middle of the place – Damdin Sükhbaatar. Renaming often is a polical maneuver.

Sükhbaatar Square [3] is the center, the heart of Ulaanbaatar. You can reach quite a lot of places of interest within a radius of one kilometer. I had been walking down Chingis Avenue and before entering Sükhbaatar Square, I saw the Central Post Office (Төв шуудан), which I guess is important for travellers, who have preserved the habit to send postcards, which means relying on snail mail instead of instantly enlighteing the world about you whreabouts. So entering from the south-western corner you walk through a park, looking west you'll see buildings like the Stock Exchange or the National Museum of Mongolian History (merits a visit). Walking north you pass Damdin Sükhbaatar' statue and  Chinggis Khaan on his throne at the colonnades of the Houses of Parliament overlooks the place. At the eastern side there's the Central Cultural Palace Building and State Ballet and Opera House, which I immediately associate with „The east is red“ (东方红), but I know that the love for China has limits in Mongolia.

You may find people taking group photos dressed traditionally (deel) in front of the national heroes. About the bride and bridegroom photographing I'll write a blogpost on its' own. There are kids playing. In the evening you might see young couples. One day there has been a science fair. So it's a good to visit the square more than once.

Links and Annotations:
[1] https://rheumatologe.blogspot.com/2014/10/turkmenistan.html English has it correct – Türkmenistan, in German it's written Turmenistan.
[2] Michael Walther und Peter Woeste: Mongolei. DuMont Reise-Handbuch. Dumont Reiseverlag, Ostfildern 2019. ISBN-10:  ‎3770181417. Before travelling to Mongolia, a friend, who lived there for about five years, advised me to contact Michael Walther, which I did, not knowing at this stage of my travel preparation, that he is the co-author of this wonderful guide-book. I should have checked!
[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%BCkhbaatar_Square


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Mongolia – Arriving

Most probably you arrive on an airplane in Mongolia. Yes, you could take a train, maybe rather from Beijing than Moskow, and slow travel would be a good idea, but most certainly you've opted for a flight – nothing wrong with this decision as the season is short and most people have to rely on guided tours.

The United Kingdom has an area of about a sixth of Mongolia; the density of population in the UK is about 246,1 per sqk, whereas for Mongolia this number drops to 1,7 per sqk. There are about 3.3 million inhabitants in Mongolia and 1.5 million live in the capital Ulaanbaatar [1] – or rather in the cars because of the traffic jams, O.K: that's another story to come.

You fly in over this vast, nearly unpopulated country, you see streams, grasslands, maybe some ger camps or gers (the Mongolian aequivalent to what we call yurt – most probably another story as the differences to other ethnicities is interesting), and then you land in the open country, at the new airport – Chinggis Khaan International Airport ( IATA: UBN) (Mongolian: Чингис хаан олон улсын нисэх буудал) [2]. You might have stumbled across the aa in Khaan or Ulaanbaatar and the gg in Chinggis. The double a is written to mark a as a long vowel and this is done with other vowels, too. I've seen Chinggis several times and it still baffels me as the Cyrillic script only has one g – Чингис – г. You might be more accostumed to the old transliteration Genghis Khan. The airport is located in the Khöshig Valley, 52 km south of the capital, and is connected by a toll highway. No traffic jam there.

And after a swift drive you reach Ulaanbaatar and there, depending on your time of arrival, you might encounter a traffic jam. As promised another story to come.

If your accommodation lies in the center of Ulaanbaatar, you might reach most of the places of interest on foot, which is anyway the best way to get to know a new place.

Links and annotations:
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongolia
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinggis_Khaan_International_Airport and https://mn.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A7%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%B3%D0%B8%D1%81_%D1%85%D0%B0%D0%B0%D0%BD_%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%BE%D0%BD_%D1%83%D0%BB%D1%81%D1%8B%D0%BD_%D0%BD%D0%B8%D1%81%D1%8D%D1%85_%D0%B1%D1%83%D1%83%D0%B4%D0%B0%D0%BB, respectively (you just have to like Wikipedia for this!).

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