Religion

From the 13th century, Mongolia had freedom of religion, and people could practice religions such as Shamanism, Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam. Mongolians are people who live very close to nature and they understand very well how to take care of nature. As a result of their affinity with nature, the Mongolian original religion was shamanism. This was practiced from the time of the Huns as well as during the 13th century; Chinggis Khan was given his name by shaman leader.

The third time Buddhism spread in Mongolia was from Tibet in the 16th century. Mongolian Buddhism is often described as a branch of Tibetan Buddhism, which it is in many ways. However, there are enough distinct features to refer to the practice as Mongolian Buddhism. Today Mongolia’s official religion is Buddhism.

Christianity has recently developed a large following. Isalam is practiced mainly by the Kazakh people, who live in the western part of Mongolia.

Language

The Mongolian language is classified within the Ural-Altaic language family, which includes Kazakh, Turkish, Uzbek, Finnish and Korean languages. The official national language is Mongolian. Ethnic groups in Mongolia have their own dialects and some phrases can be misunderstood and or not understood at all by the different groups.

The Mongolian traditional script, Uigarjin script, became the official script in the 12th century. Today, Mongolians use the Cyrillic alphabet, which was accepted as the official script in the 1940′s.

National holidays

Tsagaan Sar

Tsagaan Sar (the white moon), the first spring month, is considered one of most important festivities of Mongols for centuries. This is a time of the year to celebrate the end of winter and the beginning of spring as well as the New Year alike other oriental cultures. Tsagaan Sar is a festival of white food (food with white color – milk and dairy products, rice, etc.) that represents to start the year with fresh new body and spirits. Tsagaan Sar is the day when people express respect to elder people and relatives, renew friendship and sympathy to each other and reconfirm family ties. Family and relatives gather together.

The eve or the last day of winter is celebrated as “bituun” (“full darkness”) due to Lunar positioning with the moon invisible in the sky. The Bituun ceremony starts when it gets dark outside when families have the last heavy farewell dinner for the old year. On the first day of the new year, with the sunrise the greeting ceremony starts within the family. The younger family members greet older relatives, while extending arms with palms up and holding the older’s arms from underneath Some hold blue a sash. People eat lot of “buuz” (steamed Mongolian dumplings) and drink “airag” (fermented mare’s  milk). Tsagaan Sar is a thriving holiday season in Ulaanbaatar.

Naadam festival

Naadam, the biggest festival is held in the Mongolian capital Ulaanbaatar during the National holiday from July 11th -13th, while other towns and villages (soum centers) across Mongolia also celebrate smaller scale Naadam. It is tradionally combination of three manly games; wrestling, archery and horse-racing. In the olden days, ancient Mongols, mostly soldiers celebrate their victory and entertain their lords by holding these types of sports games, besides for memorial celebration, an annual sacrificial ritual honoring sacred mountains or community events. In modern days Naadam officially commemorates the anniversary of the revolution; Mongolia proclaimed independence in 1921.

• Horse racing

Mongolian horse racing as featured in Naadam is a cross-country event, with races 15-30 km long. The length of each race is determined by age class. Several thousand horses race in Naadam of Ulaanbaatar, while up to 1.000 horses race in one race class. Children from 5-13 ride racehorses to demonstrate skills and strengths of Mongolian horses.

• Wrestling

Mongolian traditional wrestling is unique with its outfit and rules. In Naadam 512 or 1024 wrestlers meet in a single-elimination tournament that lasts nine or ten rounds. The wrestler with the greatest fame has the privilege to choose his own opponent regardless of weight difference, when picking pairs.

• Archery

Mongolian archery is unique for having not only one target, but a set of leather beads. In this competition both men and women participate to hit 33 targets. Men fire their arrows from 75 meters to away while women fire theirs from 65 meters away.