Mongolians celebrate national holidays and festivals throughout the country. Except for the national holidays, some festivals and events held in specific places annually. Combining your Mongolian tour with some of Mongolian celebrations could make the tour more enjoyable and rich in cultural experiences.
Mongolian Lunar New Year, commonly known as TsagaanSar (Mongolian: Цагаан сар; or literally White Moon) is the first day of the year according to the Mongolian lunar calendar. The festival of the lunar New Year is celebrated by the Mongols. The White Moon festival is celebrated one month after the first new moon following the winter solstice. Tsagaan Sar is one of the most important Mongolian holidays.
The day before Tsagaan Sar is named “bituun” or no moon day. On this day, families put a feast of sheep rump, erect layers of traditional cookies on large plates by odd numbers decorating with dairy products. There are fermented mare’s milk beverage “Airag”, rice cooked with curd “Tsagaalga”, steamed and boiled dumplings “Buuz and Bansh”, and much more on the table. When it gets dark, people wear their finest clothes, sit around the table and eat as much as they can. The neighbors, relatives, and families also visit each other if they wish. Families put three pieces of ice and hay at the doorway for deity Baldan Lham and her mute because people believe that the deity visits families on the Tsagaan Sar Eve. Traditionally, Mongolians settle all issues and repay all debts from the old year by this day.
You can see this custom when you spend Tsagaan Sar with families living in gers.
On the first day of the first lunar month of spring, people get up before the sunrise, get dressed in full garment of national Mongol costumes, and walk in the directions prescribed by the zodiac to start the new year in the right direction. It is thought to bring good luck, good health, and safety for the coming year. Next, men climb the nearest mountain or hill to greet the first sunrise of the Lunar New Year. Women boil milk tea and offer its best to earth and shrine before serving the family members. Next, put cooked large and small dumplings on the table. Afterward, the greeting ceremony starts. The eldest or hosts of the family sit at khoimor (opposite side of a door).
A typical Mongol family will meet in the home dwelling of the eldest in the family. When greeting their elders during the White Moon festival, Mongols perform the “zolgokh” greeting, grasping them by their elbows to show support for them. The eldest receives greetings from each member of the family except for his/her spouse. During the greeting ceremony, family members hold long, typically blue, silk cloths called a “khadag”. They greet each other with holiday-specific greetings such as “Amar sain baina uu?”, meaning “How are you?”, the elder one says “Mendee, amar sain uu?” meaning “fine, and you?” and an older person kiss the younger on both cheeks.
After the ceremony, the extended family eats sheep’s tail, mutton, rice with curds, dairy products, and “buuz”. It is also typical to drink “airag” and exchange gifts.
After the family greetings, families visit parents’ homes, relatives’ homes, friends’ homes, and each other’s homes in the community. This way, the holiday continues officially for three days, but in practice, the holiday continues longer if family members travel long distances to greet one another.
Would you like to travel to Mongolia in winter and celebrate Tsagaan Sar with Mongolians? We will be happy to arrange your travel.
Naadam Festival is the most famous festival and the biggest national holiday of Mongolia. The origin of the Naadam festival is truly ancient.” Naadam” means festival or feast of sports. Therefore, it is correct to say “Naadam” instead of Naadam Festival. The Naadam is locally termed “Eriin Gurvan Naadam” which means “three manly sports.” The three sports are horse racing, wrestling, and archery. A traditional ankle-bone-shooting game was added later. So there are four games during Naadam. Women have started participating in the archery and girls in the horse-racing games, but not in Mongolian wrestling.
In 2010, Naadam was inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity of UNESCO.
The biggest festival (Naadam of the Country) is held in the Mongolian capital city Ulaanbaatar during the National Holiday from July 11 – 13, in the National Sports Stadium. Naadam begins with an elaborate introduction ceremony featuring dancers, athletes, horse riders, and musicians. After the ceremony, the competitions begin.
Naadam is the most widely watched festival among Mongols, and is believed to have
existed for centuries in one fashion or another.
Naadam has its origin in the activities, such as military parades and sporting competitions such as archery, horse riding and wrestling that followed the celebration of various occasions. Now it formally commemorates the 1921 revolution when Mongolia declared itself a free country.
Another popular Naadam activity is the playing of games using *shagai* sheep anklebones that serve as game pieces and tokens of both divination and friendship. In the larger Naadam festivals, tournaments may take place in a separate venue.
Ulaanbaatar’s Naadam opening ceremony starts at the National Stadium at 11 AM on 11 July annually when the symbolic Nine White Banners are ceremonially transferred by horse soldiers from the Government House to Naadam Stadium and the Mongolian president delivers a speech. Festivities include impressive shows, demonstrations, matches and performances offered during the Naadam opening. The Nine White Banners being carried by Mongolian horse soldiers from Sukhbaatar Square to Nadaam Stadium is one of the most impressive and memorable spectacles one can witness during Naadam, but missed by many visitors. Some choose to see the first part of the banner transfer while others follow the parade the entire route (approximately 3km) to Naadam Stadium.
The Naadam wrestling competition begins after the opening ceremony and continues for two days until only one champion remains from 512 wrestlers! The Mongolian government officially awards national titles to the wrestlers; therefore, only the most prominent wrestlers compete in the State or Ulaanbaatar’s Naadam. Wrestlers wear two-piece clothes consisting of a tight shoulder vest “zodog” and shorts “shuudag” which show the beauty and strength of their bodies. There is no categorization according to weight and the basic rule of wrestling is the number of wrestlers must be equal.
Usually 512 wrestlers compete in 9 elimination rounds for two days. Occasionally there are 1,024 wrestlers competing for 10 elimination rounds during special anniversary years. The number of wrestlers decreases by half after each round. Only men are allowed to participate. Mongolian traditional wrestling is an untimed competition in which wrestlers lose if they touch the ground with any part of their body other than their feet or hand. When picking pairs, the wrestler with the greatest fame has the privilege to choose his own opponent. Each wrestler has an “encourager” called a “zasuul”. The zasuul sings a song of praise for the winning wrestler after rounds 3, 5, and 7. Winners of the 7th or 8th stage (depending on whether the
competition features 512 or 1024 wrestlers) earn the title of “zaan” or “elephant”. The winner of the 9th or 10th stage, is called “arslan” or “lion”. In the final competition, all the “zasuuls” drop in the wake of each wrestler as they take steps toward each other. Two time arslans are called the titans / giants, or avarga. The State (in Ulaanbaatar) Naadam awards the national titles while the town and province Naadams award province and town titles.
The wrestlers’ costumes consist of traditional boots featuring upturned toes, a pointed-top traditional hat, a short, open-chest jacket with long sleeves and a short trunk. Mongolian wrestling outfit is made of top quality silk, leathers, felt and rope. Red and light blue colors are commonly used for the jackets and trunks to symbolize the blue sky, freedom, strength and advancement, also featured on the national flag of Mongolia. The wrestler’s hat has four sides mostly decorated with symbolic animals according to the wrestlers’ titles, as well as red ribbons hanging down. The color and numbers of lines on the hat ribbons indicates the title of the wrestler. Naadam is also called “Eriin Gurban Naadam” meaning “three manly sports” and women were traditionally not allowed to take part in the past; however, women now participate in the archery and horse racing, and are most impressive! There is a tale that Mongolian wrestlers once wore clothes covering more of their bodies. However, a women dressed as a man won in the competition and was later revealed to be a lady. As a result, the wrestling costume of today is open-chested.
Naadam is the most popular national holiday and traditional sporting event. All cities, towns and villages organize their Naadams and organize the horse races in their open horse racing field outside of the cities and towns. The racing distance differs depending on the ages of the horse. There are six racing categories in the Naadam festival according to the age of the horses. Unlike Western horse racing, which consists of short sprints generally not much longer than 2 km, Mongolian horse racing as featured in Naadam is a cross-country event, with races 15–30 km long.
Mongolian race horses are ridden by 7 to 13 year old girls and boys. The racing routes are straight requiring less navigation and more speed and endurance during the race. However, the long distance, weather and road conditions and other challenges require careful consideration for the jockeys’ safety. The race horses were ridden without saddles and child riders do not wear heavy clothing to be as light as possible. However, there is a new regulation; the jokey must be protected by accident insurance, protective gear such as helmets, vests, knee and elbow pads, and protective stirrups. Traditionally, children rode without saddles. But a new rule requires racing saddles for increased safety.
Up to 1000 horses from any part of Mongolia can be chosen to participate. Race
horses are fed a special diet.
Before the races begin, the audience sings traditional songs and the jockeys sing a song called *Giingo*. Prizes are awarded to horses and jockeys. The top five horses in each class earn the title of *airgiyn tav* and the top three are given gold, silver, and bronze medals. Also the winning jockey is praised with the title of *tumny ekh* or leader of ten thousand. The horse that finishes last in the Daaga race (two-year-old horses race) is called *bayan khodood* (meaning “full stomach”). A song is sung to the Bayan khodood wishing him luck to be next year’s winner.
Archery is the one of the most famous sports in Mongolia.
Mongolian archery is unique for having not only one target, but hundreds of beadrs or surs on a huge wall. In this competition both men and women participate. It is played by ten-men/women teams who are given four arrows each; the team has to hit 33 “surs”. Men fire their arrows from 75 meters away while women fire theirs from 65 meters away. When the archer hits the target, the judge says *uuhai* which means “hooray”. The winners of the contest are granted the titles of “national marksman” and “national markswoman”.
There are 3 different kinds of archery practiced in Mongolia; Khalkha Kharvaa/Khalka archery, Buriat Kharvaa/Buriat archery and Uriankhai Kharvaa/Uriankhai archery.
KHALKHA KHARVAA/KHALKHA ARCHERY. Khalkha Kharvaa is the most commonly practiced variety. Over the years, there have been some changes to the Naadam festival rules. These days, women can compete in all contests and games except for wrestling. The Khalkha Kharvaa shooting distance is the farthest and takes place over
2 days during the Naadam festival. The winners are awarded the state archery title. During the women’s archery tournament, archers loose 20 arrows at 60-meter target, while men loose 40 arrows at a 75-meter target. The target is a small leather cylinder laid on the ground in rows of 2 and 3. There are two red cylinders marking the center of the target, but hitting the red target does not score extra points. Each target is counted as 1 point. However, each target hitting will not be counted as a score. To be counted, the target should move a measured distance from its initial location.
URIANKHAI KHARVAA/URIANKHAI ARCHERY. Uriankhai Kharvaa is only practiced by men. In this type, archers loose arrows at distances of 30 to 40 meters. Uriankhai Kharvaa is related to some kinds of religious rituals and hunting among the Uriankhai ethnic group. It is practiced on some special days or according to the lunar calendar. Each participant looses 5 arrows to hit the target made of a cow skin stretched on a three sticks joined by the tips. The target is called “Sarampai”. The Naadam festival starts on 7 July with Uriankhai Kharvaa while the other events and competitions start from on 10 July.
BURIAT KHARVAA/BURIAT ARCHERY. Buriad archery is practiced by the Buriat, one of the ethnic minorities within Mongolia. Visitors will note that many of the archers are clad in Buriat traditional dress when witnessing this type. The Buriat Kharvaa competition is held in July annually during the Naadam festival. The shooting distance is 35 to 40 m.
Naadam is called “Erin Gurban Naadam” meaning “three manly games”. The three manly games/sports are archery, wrestling and horse racing. The ankle bone shooting is a UNESCO registered World Heritage game, and was officially added to the Naadam games in 1998. -Ankle-bone shooting competitions can be held in teams or among individual players. The Naadam festival ankle-bone shooting is played in teams. There are ankle-bone shooting tents or fields at the Naadam arena. There are several games in progress at the same time. Each team has 6 main players, plus two stand-by players. A player shoots target bones put in rows on a small wooden structure called “Zurkhai”. Behind the Zurkhai is an Aravch board, which helps the target bones and bullet bone not to scatter. The shooting target distance is 4.7m. The target bone size is 1.3 cm*2.3 cm *1.6cm and can be made of amber, tusk, horn bone or plastic. The bullet bone is made of naturally fallen deer antlers. Each player has small chairs custom-made for their size and knee height. A player shoots the bone bullet put on a well-polished wooden stick to hit the target bones. The shooter uses his or her knee as a holder of the wooden stick and shoots using his or
her middle finger.
Each competing team has 15 target bones and collects 7.7 from each team for two times and shots. Two members from each competing team sit together and shoot the targets while the other team members sit on the two sides between the shooter and the target. The teams collect their struck target bones. The first team to finish the target bones wins.
Each shooting is followed by the ankle bone shooting song Uukhai, but you may notice the competing teams make different sounds. The shooting team members make calm melodious sounds to motivate and help the shooting player to focus, while the opposing team members makes abrupt sounds to distract the shooter. However, there is nothing about bad words, just different tones of voice. Indeed, the ankle-bone shooting players are some of the friendliest and best team players as their success is the team success
