|
NAADAM FESTIVAL
The Naadam Festival is the biggest event of the Mongolian year!
Naadam, which means "games", is celebrated in every town
and village across the country. It features the three manly sports:
wrestling, archery and horse racing. The strongest wrestlers,
fastest horses and expert marksmen come together to compete for
the National title.
Imagine the magnificent spectacle of 500 stallions and their brightly dressed jockeys thundering bareback over the steppe at the end of a thirty-kilometre race. Imagine the haunting sound of the jockeys, who are boys and girls aged between four and twelve years old, singing to encourage their horses past the crowd to the finishing post.
This ancient festival dates back many centuries and was originally created as a celebration during weddings or spiritual gatherings. It later served as a way to train soldiers for battle. Chinggis Khan's nine yak tails, representing the nine tribes of the Mongols, are still ceremonially transported from Sukhbaatar Square to the Stadium to open the festivities. At these opening and closing ceremonies there are impressive parades of mounted cavalry, athletes and monks.
The wrestlers display their strong physique in a warm up "Eagle Dance" whilst their coaches announce their heroic deeds. Then over a dozen pairs will fight simultaneously in front of an excited audience. The round ends when one of the contestants touches the ground with their knee or elbow. Meanwhile, men, women and children compete, shooting arrows at a target sixty meters away. Since ancient times, this has been accompanied by singing of folk songs to cheer the competitors on.
TSAM DANCE
Tsam dances date back to 1737, there complex theatrical ceremonies have links to shamanism. Monks dressed as fierce protector deities and folk spirits wear papier-mache masks decorated with precious stones and dance around a vast, circular mandala. Occuring in monasteris often annually, these ritualised ceremonies serve to exorcise evil spirits.
YAK FESTIVAL
This mini Naadam takes place in the scenic village of Tariat.
The Nomadic Encounters itinerary incorporates the Yak Naadam Festival in August.
|
