Sacred mountains in the context of modern nation: the political dimension of landscape in Mongolia

Abstract

These words were supposedly spoken by Temüjin, known to the world as Genghis Khan. In the Mongolian national discourse, Burkhan Khaldun is the cradle of the Mongol nation and is inseparably connected with the figure of the leader: here he was born, here he established the Mongol empire, and here in the immediate vicinity – it is also assumed – he died2. Probably for this reason, the first president of Mongolia, Punsalmaagiin Ochirbat, issued a decree “Supporting Initiatives Aimed at Restoring the Tradition of the Cult of the Bogd Khan Khairkhan, Burkhan Khaldun and Otgontenger mountains” (no. 110, on May 16, 1995). On the basis of the decree, state ceremonies are held periodically at the foot of the mountains, in their honor. The president thus initiated the institutionalization of the cult of mountains and the phenomenon of authorities granting the status of “national mountain” to individual peaks3. On April 23, 2004, the above act was amended by a new presidential decree (no. 57) and since then the legal basis for holding official ceremonies has been “On the rules of holding the state ceremony of venerating tenger mountains and ovoos”4. There are currently 10 state-recognized sacred mountains in Mongolia, each with the status of a special protected area: Bogd Khan Khairkhan, Burkhan Khaldun, Otgontenger, Altan Khökhii, Darigangyn Altan Ovoo, Khan Khökhii, Sutai Khairkhan, Suvrag