Advertisement
Published: November 7th 2009
Edit Blog Post
I don't know if I've ever been in a city that has renamed and or moved itself as many times as Ulaan Baatar has! When a capitol of the more recent Mongolian empire was first declared it was 1639 and that capitol was 420 kilometers from the current capitol city. Actually city might not be the right word to use in reference to that first capitol. Ger camp might be a bit more accurate. Remember that at their heart the Mongolians are a nomadic people who were always accustomed to following their livestock. And as the pasture went dry, the camp moved on. At least 25 times it moved! And with each move there was the potential for a new name. It went through numerous creative names, like Khuree (Camp). When it finally reached its current location, modern day Ulaan Baatar, it was 1778 and was called the City of Felt. Later it was called Ikh Khuree (Great Camp). In 1911, when Mongolia declared its independence from China the name was changed to Niislel Khuree (Capitol Camp). Then in 1924, in honor of the triumph of Mongolia's new communist government, it was named Ulaan Baatar - Red Hero!
In the
heart of the city, the massive new Parliament House stands square and powerful, huge windows on the front that give a sense of openness to match the relatively young democracy's open approach to government. A massive and squat statue of Chengis Khan spreads itself in front of the Parliament House. And in Sukhbaatar Square, directly in front of the Parliament House, is a tall and slender statue of Damdin Sukhbaatar astride his horse. He is the man who declared Mongolia's final independence from China in 1921. At that time the country was the first to align itself with the newly born Soviet Union and declare itself the world's second communist country. Sukhbaatar would probably be disappointed to know that the first protests that eventually led to the fall of communist Mongolia were held in 1990 in this very square that is named for him.
We're fortunate to be here for the inauguration of the new president. The square is filled with people, military units and cavalry units in all eras of military dress parade by - along with the military band. There seems to be next to no special security for this event. Safety and unity is assumed!
Ulaan Baatar also has several beautiful ancient Palaces and Khiids (monasteries). Most were destroyed in the 1930's as Stalin secularized the extended Soviet empire (along with killing 3% of Mongolia's population, 27,000 people - of which 17,000 were Buddhist monks). But those remaining Khiids and Palaces are marvelous.
The Winter Palace of Bogd Khaan was the home of Mongolia's last Living Buddha and last king, Jebtzun Damba Hatagt VII. It has 6 temples on its grounds and extravagant gifts received by the Bogd Khaan. Gifts like a robe made of 80 fox skins. And a ger lined with the skins of 150 snow leopards. The grounds are in just enough of a state of disrepair to add to the by gone glory feeling of the Palace.
Gandan Khiid (The Great Place of Complete Joy Monastery) is Mongolia's largest monastery. Perhaps it survived the Soviet onslaught as a result of US vice president Henry Wallace's 1944 visit to Mongolia and his desire to see a Khiid while in Mongolia. The communist Mongolian government scrambled prior to his arrival to put Gandan Khiid back in order, then maintained it as a 'show monastery' for foreign visitors until 1990 when the
monastery opened once again as a religious entity. Perhaps the highlight of my visit to this complex was the Migjid Janraisig statue, consecrated in 1996 by the Dalai Lama. It is a 20 ton copper statue of the 'Lord Who Looks in Every Direction'. It is a replacement for the original 20 meter tall gold and bronze statue built by Bogd Khaan in 1911 and then removed to Leningrad (St. Petersburg) in 1937 - never to be seen again.
The museum of Choijin Lama was the most impressive of the religious sites I went to in Ulaan Baatar. Once a monastery, later the home to Luvsan Haidav Choijin Lama, brother to Bogd Khaan, who served as the state oracle. That means he was capable of entering often frantic trance like states or 'religious ecstasies' as the museum literature explains, and issuing counsel based on his visions of the future. Now it's a museum and features a collection of articles that depict a side of Buddhism I have seldom seen in my travels in Buddhist counties. For instance, the statue of Baltung Choimba, Bogd Khaan's teacher, actually has his mummified remains inside. On the opposite side of the statue of
Buddha is the statue of .Luvsan Haidav Choijin Lama, Bogd Khaan's brother and the state oracle Unfortunately his body was burned at death and couldn't be mummified and interred in his statue. Instead they mixed his ashes in the metals of the statue. The Yab-Yum (mystic sexual union) statue is . . . . incredible. But most incredible for me was the graphic artwork depicting the horrific sufferings of those condemned to the underworld. I certainly don't want to go to that version of hell!
So, after a place like that, it was time for a major change of scenery. And Hustai National Park proved to be perfect for that. The wide open steppes, breaking into the forest steppe ecosystem, spread out under a sky that never ends.
We enjoy ancient carvings made by the Turkic people who came through this region between 600 and 800 AD. And marvel at massive Neolithic graves, perhaps 4000 years old, where a person of status was buried along with a good deal of his possessions under a bulging mound of rocks.
This is also where the ancestral horse still roams wild - with man's help! The Takhi (also called Prewalski's
Horse for the the Polish explorer who 'discovered' this ancestral horse in 1878) was actually reintroduced to it's native habitat beginning in 1992 after its extinction in nature in 1969. Luckily, at that time about a dozen Takhi still existed in captivity in zoos in Russia and Europe. And I can most definitely attest to the success of the 1992-2004 reintroduction program, as we lazed a marvelous morning away up a broad canyon watching the Takhi play, graze, feed their young. They even had a few territorial scuffles as one male would try to recruit for his harem of mares - much to the displeasure of that other male. At which time the first male would usually abandon his recruitment efforts, turn to his own harem, and take advantage of his position as the head stud!
What an incredible country Mongolia has been. And to think, one of the main reason's that I wanted to come here was the inspiration of one of my IB Music students, Daniel. He introduced me to Mongolian Khoomi throat singing in a class presentation. The unbelievable sound of a man singing two notes at once, two distinct melodies simultaneously, is not to be
missed! The confusion of a low guttural growl overlaid with a floating whistle like voice is akin to the mysterious allure of Mongolia. This is wide open land of azure skies and vistas that never end as an eagle floats on the endless wind, its wings whistling as it tears through the air. But this is also a land of mystery, of ancient ruins and a proud history shrouded in the unknown. All I know as we get back on the train, Russia bound, is that this is a land I must return to . . . . . .
Advertisement
Tot: 0.053s; Tpl: 0.014s; cc: 11; qc: 27; dbt: 0.0292s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Marcia B
non-member comment
Opening the World
Thanks Mike for sharing the world with us through your eyes.