First hair cutting ceremony of children is commonly celebrated in Mongolia and named differently among the Mongols, such as khüükhdiin üs avakh (cutting the child’s hair) or örövlög ürgeekh (clipping the child’s crest), the main content is the same. The custom is practiced for boys when they are at age 3 or 5, and for […]
Mongulai
Mongolian Funeral practices
Mongolian Funeral Practices The internment of the body in Mongolia customarily belongs to kings and nobleman, saints, and shamans. The dead body of ordinary (common) people is traditionally left exposed at an open countryside places. But the honouring of remains is common and mongolian funeral proceedings are almost the same. According to tradition, the dead […]
Agricultural Farming in Mongolia
Herders have also long supplemented their foodstuffs with agriculture as well as hunting. According to archeological findings, historical documents, and notes of ancient foreign travelers, it is proven that in Mongolia farming dates back to the Stone and Bronze Ages. Our tribal states continued and developed these traditions. Taria (grain), budaa (rice), arvai (barley), guril […]
Custom to Castrate Young Animals
Young animals are castrated at the beginning of summer. This is a traditional method to maintain the balance of male and female domestic animals. The methods to castrate animals differ depending upon the flock or herd. The general ceremony of castration is the same. For instance, in order to castrate flocks, a felt rug or […]
How Mongolian People Make Felt Throughout the Centuries
1. Custom of Shearing Sheep Mongolians have a long standing tradition of manually processing the wool and hair of the five kinds of animals for use in their daily life. At the end of spring and the beginning of summer, the animals have grown fat on the fresh green grass and start to shed their […]
Custom of Helping Mother Animals to Accept Their Young
There is a specific ritual that is done in a tuneful utterance when a new mother rejects its newborn or when a newborn becomes orphaned. This ritual is believed to encourage the mother to allow the newborn to nurse. Our ancestors have long paid attention to animal behavior, character, and the sounds they produce. In […]
Nomadic Life in Mongolia – Moving to a New Pasture
Mongolian livestock-breeders move from place to place throughout the four seasons in search of new pastures, which for centuries served as the source of their way of life. The pastureland is subdivided into seasonal camps. Certain regulations are followed depending on whether it is the beginning, middle, or end of the season. Livestock-breeders have a […]
How Do Mongolians Board Their Foals?
When the weather becomes colder in autumn, the horse-breeders have a custom to set the mares and foals free of their halter and hobbles and to celebrate the feast of “Foal branding”. From ancient times, the feast used to have the name of the “Feast for foal branding”, due to the custom that horse-breeders used […]
Spring Endowment
With the arrival of spring and mild weather, livestock is emancipated, but pasture grass is still usually rare. Animals typically give birth in the spring, however, despite these conditions. This is the busiest and hardest period for livestock breeders. There is the Lunar Month festival which celebrates the passing of winter safe and sound. The […]