Naadam
Naadam ( Mongolian Наадам , game or competition ) is the national festival of Mongolia and takes place annually from July 10th to 13th, with the official opening ceremony on July 11th and the official closing ceremony on July 12th. The full name is Eriin Gurwan Naadam ( эрийн гурван наадам ; The Three Male Games ).
The origin of the festival probably goes back to the Kuriltai - clan gatherings, which were social highlights in the Middle Ages. July 11th was later rededicated as Revolution Day as a national holiday and commemorates the country's declaration of independence in 1921. The Naadam festival is mainly a sporting event similar to the Olympic Games . The Mongols compete in the three traditional Mongolian sports: wrestling , archery and horse racing .
As a sporting side event, championships in games with Schagai (sheep's ankles) are held at Naadam festivals . This is a special variant of the game called Schagain Charval .
Apart from the wrestling matches - contrary to the name of the festival - women also take part in the competitions. According to legend, the characteristic wrestling dress with a bare chest has the purpose of keeping women away from wrestling matches. The games begin with parades of athletes, monks and soldiers dressed in Genghis Khan's warrior costume. The sports competitions take place on the first three days of the festival, the third day is also devoted to general entertainment.
The largest Naadam games take place in the capital Ulaanbaatar , but other cities also celebrate the tournaments on a smaller scale.
The Naadam Festival is also celebrated in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China . The Russian Autonomous Republic of Tuva celebrates a similar festival on August 15 every year, it is called Naadym and the wrestling matches are known as Khuresh .
Wrestling match
The men's wrestling match is held in nine competition rounds. The titles Nachin , Khartsaga and Zaan can be obtained. The Mongolian President will award the title in the Central Stadium on July 12th. The children compete in seven rounds of competition.
Wrestler at the Naadam festival
Mongolian wrestling match
Archery
In archery, in which women are also allowed to take part, there will be three rounds of competitions from July 10th to July 11th with a final round and award ceremony on July 12th in the central stadium.
In the second round ( Khasaa ), each competitor shoots 20 arrows at 30 baskets stacked on top of each other.
Archery women
Mongolian archery competitions date back to the 11th century. The archers, who wear traditional costumes, use bows made of horn, bark and wood. The arrows with a length of about 75 cm are made of willow branches and vulture feathers, while the arrowhead is made of bone and brass. The goals of the Naadam Festival are stacked cylinder-shaped baskets made of sheep intestine, each 8 cm high and 8 cm in diameter.
In the first round, 20 arrows are shot at a four meter long and 48 cm high wall made up of four rows of baskets ( khana ) stacked on top of each other , in the second round 20 arrows are shot at two rows of a total of 30 stacked baskets ( khasaa ). The distance from the target is 75 m for male competitors and 60 m for women.
The judges stand next to the targets and announce the result by singing traditional melodies ( uukhai ) loudly and with a raised hand. The participant who hits the targets most often is the winner of the competition ( merge ).
horse race
In the horse races, children compete against each other on horses between two and six years old, and there is also a race on stallions. Depending on the age group, different distances are ridden, with the largest race at the Naadam Festival just outside of Ulaanbaatar over a full 30 km. The horses that have won will be celebrated on July 12th in the central stadium, after which the children's jockeys will receive gifts from the Mongolian president.
Naadam horse racing: the
start is easy
Sometimes the horses cross the finish line without a rider
Other activities outside of the competitions
On July 10th there will be a flag and a military parade, a wreath-laying ceremony at the statue of Damdin Süchbaatar and a ceremony at the great statue of Genghis Khan . Also, an art exhibition called Beautiful Mongolia will open and a concert will be given on the same day . On July 11th there will be a concert with a final greeting ceremony and on July 12th there will be a festival called Deeltei Mongol and a festival of horse trainers.
Web links
- Traditional Mongolian sports in the German-language website of China-Radio international
- Naadam Festival ( Memento of July 13, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) In: csen.org
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i Great Naadam Festival - 2010 Program ( Memento of the original from March 14, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Official Tourism Website of Mongolia - Ministry of Nature, Environment and Tourism, Mongolia, accessed July 20, 2010
- ↑ csen.org , The Center for the Study of Eurasian Nomads (CSEN): Naadam Festival , in English, accessed April 6, 2012
- ↑ atarn.org , Instinctive Archer Magazine, Munkhtsetseg: Mongolian National Archery , July 18, 2000, in English, accessed April 6, 2012
