There's two main national holidays in Mongolia.
Naadam is a traditional festival in Mongolia. The festival is also locally termed "eriin gurvan naadam" (эрийн гурван наадам) "the three games of men". The games are Mongolian wrestling, horse racing and archery and are held throughout the country during midsummer. Women have started participating in the archery and girls in the horse-racing games, but not in Mongolian wrestling.
Wrestling simply put, Mongolian wrestling has no weight divisions and no time limits. This makes for a very interesting competition where, an unfortunate small wrestler, may be pitted against opponents twice his size.
512 to 1024 wrestlers will meet on the field, in an enormous single elimination tournament that lasts for nine or ten rounds. There is a frenzied atmosphere amongst the crowd as the excitement of the tournament takes hold.
The loser of any one match is the wrestler who falls first, said to be when any part of the body contacts the floor, excluding the hands and feet. Hence a smaller opponent may defeat a larger foe, by employing equal amounts of squirming and cunning, taking the element of surprise and knocking him off balance.
Before and after matches, wrestlers pay tribute to judges and attendants by performing the traditional devekh dance, imitating an eagle as it takes flight.
For Archery events, contestants will dress in Mongolian costume and make use of a traditional bent bow, expertly crafted from horn, bark and wood. Arrows are made from willow branches with flights of vulture feathers. Targets are made from woven leather and are painted grey, with the centre two being red. They are stacked to form the target and resemble a small wall of hula-hoop crisps. On either side of these walls stand the judges who observe and rate every shot, somehow without ever sustaining an injury.
Men fire 40 arrows from the 75m mark and women fire 20 arrows from 60m.The winning archer, or mergen as they are known, is the one who hits the target the most times in a series of successive rounds. As contestants are eliminated, there are fewer archers and targets in each round, and the competition gets increasingly tense.
The horse racing event is held on the Mongolian steppes, outside Ulaanbaatar. Thousands of people gather on the hillsides at the finish line just outside the city. All hope to catch a glimpse of the winning horse as it speeds across the nearby finish line.Horse Racing1000 horses are allowed to compete in the riding event, which has no set track or course across the countryside. Distances are set according to the age of the horse, and there are six categories ranging from 15 to 30 km in length.
Typically jockeys average about 9 years old. On asking about this strange sight, the reason most often given outlines the competition as a test of a horse’s stamina and ability, not the skill of the rider. However, as you would expect, jockeys are taken and trained for months prior to the event and horses are fed a special diet to ensure that each performs to the best of their ability on the day.
As the horses ride down into the valley, in the far distance, a trail of dust is all that can be seen billowing behind the leading contenders. Some time passes and the sound of a thousand thundering horses reaches the crowd as they make their way towards their final goal. The atmosphere amongst the crowd reaches fever pitch.
The winning jockey is praised with the title ‘leader of ten thousand’ and subsequently chased by Mongolians eager to obtain some lucky horse sweat.
At the finish line, as traditional song and dance is performed for successful horses, droves of rider less steeds gallop past the crowd. One can’t help but wonder about the fate of the fallen, 9 year old jockeys, out there somewhere on the Mongolian steppes...
The Naadam Festival is officially accredited by the Mongolian Ministry of Nature, Environment and Tourism
Naadam is a traditional festival in Mongolia. The festival is also locally termed "eriin gurvan naadam" (эрийн гурван наадам) "the three games of men". The games are Mongolian wrestling, horse racing and archery and are held throughout the country during midsummer. Women have started participating in the archery and girls in the horse-racing games, but not in Mongolian wrestling.
Wrestling simply put, Mongolian wrestling has no weight divisions and no time limits. This makes for a very interesting competition where, an unfortunate small wrestler, may be pitted against opponents twice his size.
512 to 1024 wrestlers will meet on the field, in an enormous single elimination tournament that lasts for nine or ten rounds. There is a frenzied atmosphere amongst the crowd as the excitement of the tournament takes hold.
The loser of any one match is the wrestler who falls first, said to be when any part of the body contacts the floor, excluding the hands and feet. Hence a smaller opponent may defeat a larger foe, by employing equal amounts of squirming and cunning, taking the element of surprise and knocking him off balance.
Before and after matches, wrestlers pay tribute to judges and attendants by performing the traditional devekh dance, imitating an eagle as it takes flight.
For Archery events, contestants will dress in Mongolian costume and make use of a traditional bent bow, expertly crafted from horn, bark and wood. Arrows are made from willow branches with flights of vulture feathers. Targets are made from woven leather and are painted grey, with the centre two being red. They are stacked to form the target and resemble a small wall of hula-hoop crisps. On either side of these walls stand the judges who observe and rate every shot, somehow without ever sustaining an injury.
Men fire 40 arrows from the 75m mark and women fire 20 arrows from 60m.The winning archer, or mergen as they are known, is the one who hits the target the most times in a series of successive rounds. As contestants are eliminated, there are fewer archers and targets in each round, and the competition gets increasingly tense.
The horse racing event is held on the Mongolian steppes, outside Ulaanbaatar. Thousands of people gather on the hillsides at the finish line just outside the city. All hope to catch a glimpse of the winning horse as it speeds across the nearby finish line.Horse Racing1000 horses are allowed to compete in the riding event, which has no set track or course across the countryside. Distances are set according to the age of the horse, and there are six categories ranging from 15 to 30 km in length.
Typically jockeys average about 9 years old. On asking about this strange sight, the reason most often given outlines the competition as a test of a horse’s stamina and ability, not the skill of the rider. However, as you would expect, jockeys are taken and trained for months prior to the event and horses are fed a special diet to ensure that each performs to the best of their ability on the day.
As the horses ride down into the valley, in the far distance, a trail of dust is all that can be seen billowing behind the leading contenders. Some time passes and the sound of a thousand thundering horses reaches the crowd as they make their way towards their final goal. The atmosphere amongst the crowd reaches fever pitch.
The winning jockey is praised with the title ‘leader of ten thousand’ and subsequently chased by Mongolians eager to obtain some lucky horse sweat.
At the finish line, as traditional song and dance is performed for successful horses, droves of rider less steeds gallop past the crowd. One can’t help but wonder about the fate of the fallen, 9 year old jockeys, out there somewhere on the Mongolian steppes...
The Naadam Festival is officially accredited by the Mongolian Ministry of Nature, Environment and Tourism
Tsagaan Sar, Traditional Mongolian New Year
The festival of the lunar New Year, Tsagaan Sar or ‘White Month’, is celebrated around February. The exact date is dependent upon the Mongolian lunar calendar. The festival is one of Mongolia’s two major holidays, marking the passing of winter and the arrival of spring. Although the festival can be celebrated in Ulaanbaatar, it is best enjoyed with traditional Mongolian families living away from the city. Here, the celebrations can last for much longer than the allotted three days.
To mark the festival, Mongolians purge their bodies and minds of all that is bad and start their lives afresh. They express respect to their elders, relatives and friends, reconfirming their social bonds. Families gather together, to celebrate and eat traditional food such as buuz (meat dumplings), uuts (grilled sheep’s tail), Ul boov (pastry), yaks milk and rice.
Mongolians will prepare for the feasting of Tsagaan Sar many weeks in advance, buying and preparing food, cleaning and decorating their gers. Many Mongolian people will be sporting fresh, new deels, (traditional Mongolian dress costumes), around the time of the festival.
Bituun is the evening before lunar New Year, a kind of lunar New Year’s Eve. Mongolians believe that if you begin the New Year with a full stomach, then good things will surely follow. Families will stay up late into the night feasting on food until their stomachs are full.
On the first official day of Tsagaan Sar Mongolians will rise early to watch the rising sun and take their first steps of the new year. They may visit an ovoo, a traditional shamanistic cairn found throughout the countryside. It is traditional to circle the ovoo three times clockwise and offer a prayer to the heavens.
From here they will go to visit their closest family members, usually in order of age, offering the traditional Tsagaan Sar greeting. The second eldest member of the family will stand arms outstretched, palms upwards and covered by a khadag, (a piece of blue silk), then will grasp their elder’s elbows supportively, and then the two will touch their cheeks together. This continues until everybody has been greeted in order of age, and all gifts are exchanged. The value of gifts is unimportant to the ceremony; consideration is the important factor. Traditionally older people are offered khadags and younger people sweets, according to custom strong drinks are only offered to the over 40’s.
People will sing songs and play games in their gers as they welcome and greet their guests. It is considered rude if you refuse to demonstrate your singing talent when offered a drink by your host. Following greetings, more food is placed on the tables and the eating and drinking starts over.
During the second day of Tsagaan Sar, Mongolians will visit their friends houses, continuing the process of greetings, eating and drinking. On the third day they workplaces will gather together. This continues, traditionally for fifteen days, but generally only three days in the city.
Tsagaan Sar is a religious festival and is officially accredited by the Mongolian Ministry of Nature, Environment and Tourism.
The festival of the lunar New Year, Tsagaan Sar or ‘White Month’, is celebrated around February. The exact date is dependent upon the Mongolian lunar calendar. The festival is one of Mongolia’s two major holidays, marking the passing of winter and the arrival of spring. Although the festival can be celebrated in Ulaanbaatar, it is best enjoyed with traditional Mongolian families living away from the city. Here, the celebrations can last for much longer than the allotted three days.
To mark the festival, Mongolians purge their bodies and minds of all that is bad and start their lives afresh. They express respect to their elders, relatives and friends, reconfirming their social bonds. Families gather together, to celebrate and eat traditional food such as buuz (meat dumplings), uuts (grilled sheep’s tail), Ul boov (pastry), yaks milk and rice.
Mongolians will prepare for the feasting of Tsagaan Sar many weeks in advance, buying and preparing food, cleaning and decorating their gers. Many Mongolian people will be sporting fresh, new deels, (traditional Mongolian dress costumes), around the time of the festival.
Bituun is the evening before lunar New Year, a kind of lunar New Year’s Eve. Mongolians believe that if you begin the New Year with a full stomach, then good things will surely follow. Families will stay up late into the night feasting on food until their stomachs are full.
On the first official day of Tsagaan Sar Mongolians will rise early to watch the rising sun and take their first steps of the new year. They may visit an ovoo, a traditional shamanistic cairn found throughout the countryside. It is traditional to circle the ovoo three times clockwise and offer a prayer to the heavens.
From here they will go to visit their closest family members, usually in order of age, offering the traditional Tsagaan Sar greeting. The second eldest member of the family will stand arms outstretched, palms upwards and covered by a khadag, (a piece of blue silk), then will grasp their elder’s elbows supportively, and then the two will touch their cheeks together. This continues until everybody has been greeted in order of age, and all gifts are exchanged. The value of gifts is unimportant to the ceremony; consideration is the important factor. Traditionally older people are offered khadags and younger people sweets, according to custom strong drinks are only offered to the over 40’s.
People will sing songs and play games in their gers as they welcome and greet their guests. It is considered rude if you refuse to demonstrate your singing talent when offered a drink by your host. Following greetings, more food is placed on the tables and the eating and drinking starts over.
During the second day of Tsagaan Sar, Mongolians will visit their friends houses, continuing the process of greetings, eating and drinking. On the third day they workplaces will gather together. This continues, traditionally for fifteen days, but generally only three days in the city.
Tsagaan Sar is a religious festival and is officially accredited by the Mongolian Ministry of Nature, Environment and Tourism.