Mongolian Music : Enkhjargal and friends

ENKJARGAL by college-des-bernardins

http://mongolianmusic.blogspot.com/2011/06/enkhjargal-and-friends.html

Bringing a Monastery Back to Life

"Erdene Zuu, Mongolia’s oldest surviving Buddhist monastery, is a sprawling, windswept complex nestled in the Orkhon Valley, the ancient cultural crossroads where Genghis Khan chose to locate the capital of his empire, Karakorum, back in 1220. The monastery — which dates to 1586 and was built with stones from the ruined capital — once had 60 temples and 1,000 monks who lived in hundreds of gers dotted throughout the swaying grass. Now it has just 54 monks, none of whom live on the site, and 13 temples, only one of which — the Lama Temple — can be used for worship. "

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/20/arts/20iht-monk20.html

Mongolian Diptychs Tell of Profound Change

"Chinese society is developing very quickly and traditions are changing, diminishing, disappearing. I just want to document, help preserve and propagate the great traditions of my ancestors. I feel a pain in my heart as I see it all change. These traditions belong to an old world. I am documenting the way of life of the descendants of Genghis Khan."

http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/20/mongolian-diptychs-tell-of-profound-change/?hp

"Treasures of the Sand" The Legacy of Danzan Ravjaa

"While all of us affect our worlds to one degree or another, in any given generation rise figures who ultimately tower above the rest, and whose force of charisma and visionary activity inalterably shift the entire flow of their culture. Their legacy permeates the imaginations of their people long after they have physically passed from this world, to the point where their memory shades into myth. Though little known in the West, in early 19th c. Mongolia one light blazed brightest of all – Danzan Ravjaa. Poet, dramatist, painter, songsmith, healer, museum curator, educator, architect, scholar, raconteur and Tantric Buddhist master, this renaissance lama continues to inspire Mongols everywhere, but especially the people of the Gobi Desert."

http://www.tibetan-museum-society.org/java/arts-culture-Danzan-Ravjaa.jsp#

See also

http://www.danzanravjaa.org/lordofthegobipart1.php

http://www.gobi-treasure.com/

Mongolian treasures uncovered

"Crates of Buddhist relics have been dug up from the sands of the Gobi Desert"

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/8187628.stm

Padmasambhava — The Statue of 10,000 Knives

"By all accounts, Khamariin Khiid thrived as a progressive, harmonious community, until on one occasion, a dispute in the camps escalated, resulting in the stabbing death of a Chinese man. Such violence was almost unheard-of there and the residents were greatly upset. Danzan Ravjaa acted quickly, sending out a message that any family that had faith in him should come and bring a knife from its household as an offering. So great was the response, that Danzan Ravjaa eventually collected more than 10,000 knives.

Summoning the most skilled sculptors and metalsmiths, Danzan Ravjaa had all the knives melted down and forged into an exquisite statue of the eighth c. lama Padmasambhava, the Nyingma lineage's progenitor who is commonly known as Guru Rinpoche. Because of the unusual material employed, the body and base are pewter-colored, with only the face and hands painted gold. Guru Rinpoche's expression is exceptionally intense and the details all suggest the suppression of evil, from the demon head upon which the figure sits, to the outstretched right hand holding a vajra in the gesture of the annihilation of obstacles. Once displayed, the figure became an object of pilgrimage known as the Statue of 10,000 Knives and peace prevailed at Khamariin Khiid, up until the untimely death of Danzan Ravjaa. — Source Konchog Norbu from his article, "Treasures of the Sand ©" — The Legacy of Danzan Ravjaa "

http://www.tibetan-museum-society.org/tibetan-art-museum-gallery/exhibit.php?id=10&sortby=deity

http://www.tibetan-museum-society.org/

Featured photos taken in Mongolia

http://www.travellerspoint.com/photos/gallery/size/M/features/start/1/countries/Mongolia/