Our time in Khorakhorum luckily
coincided with the local Naadam Festival which is the highlight in the
Mongolian Calendar. All started with the pomp, ceremony and pageantry of a big
show
Mongolians wear their
traditional dress all year round but love to come out in their finest during
Naadam. Dignitaries lead the parade
Old friends meet and acquaintances are remade just the same as at any country event
Singing, dancing and acrobatics
are all part of the opening ceremony and…….
…….. the Shaman, an important
part of ancient culture still lives on in traditional ceremonies
Naadam consists of wrestling,
horseracing and archery, the three sports of men
The wrestling has no weight divisions
and before and after each fight the wrestlers act a kind of eagle dance. The
winner who has tossed his opponent onto his back is rewarded with a title
dependent on how many times he wins
Archery now includes women who
shoot at their target 60m away; men shoot to 75m (At Ulaanbaatar we witnessed
the men shooting at the same time over the heads of the women – they say that
there are ….. few accidents)
Miniature crossbow has also been included
I receive some finer points
with regard to archery. Neither of us can understand a word but communication
is….. passable
In horse racing the riders are
between five and twelve; the race is over an open country track between 15 and
30 klms dependent on the horse’s age; the first five horses are honored. Here the
fifth horse receives his batten although is nearly tripped up in the process
Riders race with varying levels
of equipment. Many like this one are bareback, no stirrups, boots (or helmet!!)
– that’s the way you learn to ride as a Mongolian boy!
This guy was well and truly
dressed for the occasion – photo courtesy of Cheryl
Two days later on the 11th
July we were in Ulaanbaatar for the National Naadam Festival; a grandeur scale
of Khorakhorum and what a spectacle!!
The Mongolian Army provided the
large scale pageantry
Two young ladies with their Mum
who sat next to us in the grandstand were all dressed up in their best
Archers in their finest
While outside the stadium the
buskers and food stalls added to the festivities
…..and of course you can’t have
a festival in Mongolia without airag – fermented horse milk. Nope we didn’t try
it either…
No comments:
Post a Comment