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Tsagaan Sar

Tomorrow is Tsagaan Sar, the Mongolian New Year Festival. Throughout the whole day, I have the sense of the pre-Christmas atmosphere that we have back in Germany. People scurry about the squares and streets with bulging shopping bags as if they are afraid that soon there will be nothing left on the shelves. I am pushed here and there in the crowd. I am waiting at the bus stop in Sukhbaatar Square. I wait a while for the bus to turn up and then I decide on a different option. I call Saulegul who in the same way as I am, is also on his own at holiday times. The Kazakhstanis, who like Saule are of the Moslem faith, do not celebrate this Buddhist festival. We arrange to meet that evening in a pub.

The Mongolian New Year is a moveable feast that takes place on different dates from the end of January to the end of February. The lamas from the largest monastery in Ulaanbaatar, Gandan, determine the exact date of the festival each year. They calculate it based on the first phase of the new moon and the Asian calendar.

Back in the year 1206, Chinggis Khaan decreed that the start of spring should be celebrated each year as this is the time when the animals give birth to their young. This start of the new cycle of life should be marked by the people through celebrations. The name White New Year Festival is derived from the colour of milk. In the 17th century, Zanabazar, as the first Bogd Khaan and in his capacity as the head of the lamas, absorbed the previously secular festival into Buddhism, which had recently been introduced. Also the tradition of including a further fifteen days goes back to him, as this is the period during which Buddha was reborn.

Starting from the day before the holy festival and going on into the first morning, ceremonies are held in the monasteries and homage is paid to the two deities Bandanlkham and Lkham. During this night, Lkham is said to travel through three thousand worlds and is believed to visit every Mongolian family. For that reason, Tsagaan Sar is also a family festival where, according to the ancient practice, family members meet on the evening before and pray for divine support during the year ahead.

The traditional meal to accompany the festival consists of three, five, seven or nine layers of Kheviin Boov, a light, sweet pastry, shaped into a pyramid and served with buuz, Mongolian dumplings filled with meat. There is also uuts, steamed mutton or uvchuu, steamed beef. Various salads accompany this. Airag, fermented milk, tsagaan arkhi, milk schnapps and suutei tsai, milk tea, are served as drinks. Aaruul, a type of cheese eaten throughout Central Asia and sugar are placed on the frame around the door to the jurte on the eve of the festival. In the towns, this tradition is replaced by placing gifts on the door step or if available, on a balcony rail. This gift is seen symbolically as food for Lkham’s mule.

That evening, there are not many other passengers on the bus, which is a new experience for me. Normally, all the municipal buses are full to overflowing at all times of the day. Most of the locals live in tower blocks and tenements outside the centre of town or in the jurte settlements. By now, they will be there, complete with their purchases. This evening, the celebrations are keeping the people indoors. There is no traffic driving into the city. The streets of the great metropolis are empty of people and I feel like I am being driven through a ghost town. Will any pub or bar be open this evening?

Saule’s directions are good. I spot the bar from a distance, nestling between the modern-style houses. I sit at one of the attractively decorated tables, order a Chinggis beer and wait. Saule arrives, unusually punctual and for a while, we are the only customers. Slowly, the bar, which is one of the most popular in town, starts to fill up. However, there are no Mongolians to be seen. It just appears to be Americans and Europeans, business people who for the most part are working here.

Later on, a Mongolian father and his small son enter the bar. They sit at the table next to us and order two meals. The father looks sadly at the little boy who silently flicks through a small book. On this, a family holiday, they prefer the companionship of a bar to the loneliness of their two room flat.

The man at the next table turns to us and starts to tell us some memorable stories about the history of the traditions of Tsagaan Sar. The story about the little box is the most fantastical. His son had placed the lucky coins that were hidden in the buuz and which he had bitten on while eating, into his secret stash, a small wooden box. Once, he had rashly boasted about it and revelled in the pure happiness of it. When his collection of old coins disappeared without trace, the Mongolian New Year tradition that recommends maintaining total secrecy about voicing such things, was confirmed.

We stay late into the night. None of us wants to go back to where we live. Two months earlier, I had rented a flat. But I don’t really feel at home there. It is more of an office where I organise my trips from. Outside, we wave at one of the few cars that is driving slowly along the avenue. The driver stops immediately and we agree a price of 500 tugrik per kilometre to drive us home. Most car drivers have nothing against such moonlighting and supplement their income by offering occasional taxi services.

The next day sees the start of the three main Tsagaan Sar holidays when family visits take place, to wish each other Happy New Year. The order of events is to visit close family members first and then to call on friends. Battulga has engineered a surprise visit with his elderly mother for me. I am invited to celebrate with them, until the end of the festival period. That is a truly wonderful gesture of friendship.

The milk tea has already been prepared and there is enough for everyone. We are in the mother’s flat so honour is bestowed upon her by the whole family. Before drinking, some tea is offered up and cast to the four corners of the skies. I extend my forearms to the mother by way of a greeting. In order to offer symbolic support to her as the oldest member of the family, they are placed under her arms that are also extended. It is then also well received if a gift of money is offered, to add weight to the esteem and regard being shown.

After the ceremony, the family members greet each other, with the exception of the married couples who, according to Mongolian beliefs, form one unit and cannot be separated one from the other. No water should be fetched and no manual work should be done. It is also not allowed to take any rubbish outside. Anybody who disobeys this will have an unhappy year, according to Battulga’s mother. This also applies to anyone who stays with strangers, who argues, who sleeps in the afternoon or who cries.

Some superstitious Mongolians would have advised me against staying overnight under these conditions. But the honest hospitality displayed by Battulga’s family is sincere, so I stay. The simple joy of their anticipation is heart-warming and will surely make it difficult for any evil spirits in the future.

Airag, fermented horse’s milk, is a very popular drink at Tsagaan Sar.

Celebrating Tsagaan Sar at home with Battulga.

Tsagaan Sar, with the edible symbols of the festival – the idee and the fatty saddle of mutton.

On the morning of the first day of the New Year, there is a fixed ritual, where people walk around the ovoo and then they pay homage to the sunrise.

Horse racing takes place throughout the country at Tsagaan Sar, sometimes at temperatures below –40 °C.