NAADAM (Mongolia)

NAADAM

This is the main national holiday in Mongolia. The roots of these festivities are very ancient. It is celebrated in summer throughout the country, but the main events happen July 11-13 in Ulaanbaatar. Naadam is properly known as Eriin Gurvan Naadam (Three Manly Games). The Three Manly Games are: wrestling, archery and horse races.

WRESTLING

Mongolian wrestling is similar to wrestling found elsewhere, except there are no weight divisions. It will end only when anything other than the soles of the feet or open palms of the wrestler touch the ground. Winners are bestowed glorious titles depending on how many rounds they win. These are nachin (falcon) - five rounds; zaan (elephant) - seven rounds; and arslan (lion) - given to the winner of the tournament. When an arslan wins the tournament second time he becomes an avarga, or titan.
Before each elimination bout, wrestlers limber up and honor the judges, coaches (zasuul) and spectators with a 'devekh' dance mimicking the flight of a mythical bird garuda. Some more bird dancing is performed if the wrestler wins. Before the fifth round a special kind of urtyn duu (long song) is performed by coaches for four most accomplished titans. The song praises the champion, lists his titles and accomplishments and calls the name of an unlucky wrestler who will be facing the titan in the next round. Wrestlers wear small and tough pants, called shuudag, and zodog, the small vest across the shoulders. The legend says that the open-fronted vest was introduced after long ago men discovered to their surprise that the tournament winner was a woman. The vests make sure that no woman enters the competition and harms men's ego.

ARCHERY

Bow was a nomadic weapon of choice since the dawn of times. Archers use a bent composite bow made of layered horn, bark and wood. Arrows are made from willows and the feathers are from vultures and other birds of prey. Male archers stand 75m from the target, while women stand 60m from it. The target is a line of gray, red and yellow leather rings (known as sur) on the ground.
After each shot, special referees who stand near the target (but miraculously never get injured) emit a short cry called a uukhai, and raise their hands in the air to indicate the quality of the shot. The winner who hits the targets the most times is declared the best archer, or mergen.

HORSE RACING

There are normally six age categories for horse racing. For example, a two-year-old horse, called a shudlen, races for 15km, while six and seven-year-old azrag and ikh nas horses race for up to 30km. Conducted over long distance in open area these races leave a lot of room for cheating. Boys and girls aged between five and 13 years old serve as jockeys and prepare for months, especially for Naadam. Before a race riders sing a traditional song called a gingo. The winner is declared tumnii ekh, or 'leader of many'. Riders and spectators rush to comb the sweat off a winning horse with a scraper made from a pelican's beak. The first five horses are admired and revered by the crowd. The five winning riders must drink some special airag, which is then often sprinkled on the riders' heads and on the horses' backsides.