A blend rather than a boundary
Ask many Mongolians about religion and the answer may be “Buddhist”, but the full picture is more layered. For most of the country’s history, Tibetan Buddhism has lived alongside older beliefs about sky, mountains, waters and spirits, and in daily life the two are often hard to separate. A family might invite a lama to read prayers for a new home, then also make offerings to the mountain nearby, with no sense of contradiction.
The history of this mix is covered elsewhere. The article on Mongolian Buddhism describes the monasteries and the effects of the twentieth century, and Mongolian shamanism explains the older tradition more fully. This article is about how belief appears in ordinary routines.
Buddhism in ordinary life
Tibetan Buddhism, particularly the Gelug tradition, is the main religious tradition for most Mongolians. After a period of severe suppression in the socialist era, when many monasteries were closed or destroyed and many monks were persecuted, religious life revived widely after the democratic revolution. Monasteries reopened, new temples were built and public observance returned.
In daily terms, Buddhist practice is often informal:
- Home altars. Many households have a small shelf with images of Buddhist figures, a photo of a lama or butter lamps, and sometimes offerings of water, food or milk.
- Prayer beads and wheels. Some people carry prayer beads, and prayer wheels are turned clockwise at temples.
- Visiting monasteries. Families may visit a monastery on special days, ask a lama for advice or request a ritual for health, travel or a new business. Dates are often chosen using the lunar system described in the article on lucky days.
- Rituals around life events. Births, weddings, illness and funerals often involve a lama, although the specifics vary among families.
Attendance is not usually a weekly obligation, and individual commitment ranges from deeply devout to casual.
Older beliefs in the landscape
A different layer of belief concerns the land. Mountains, rivers, lakes and springs are widely regarded as having spirits or deserving respect. The most visible sign is the ovoo, a cairn of stones, wood and sometimes offerings, found on passes, hilltops and sacred sites. Travelers and locals often stop to walk around it clockwise three times, add a stone and sometimes place a blue scarf or pour a little milk or tea. Drivers commonly slow down or stop at these places for a moment before crossing a mountain pass.
Respect for nature shows up in other ways too. Some places are considered sacred and not suited for digging, cutting trees or making noise. Herders may avoid disturbing certain springs or hills. These attitudes are one reason local attitudes to parks and conservation can have deep roots, a theme in the discussion of community conservation.
Shamans, who traditionally act as intermediaries with the spirit world, are active in some communities, and in some places consultations and ceremonies are open to visitors, though anyone interested should approach with respect and care, and treat these as religious events rather than shows.
Household customs
Many small habits belong to the home and reflect both traditions. Not all families keep all of them, and rules differ by region, but visitors often notice or are told about the following:
- The hearth. The fire is treated with respect. People do not throw trash into it or step over it, and offerings of food or fat are sometimes made.
- The threshold. Stepping on the threshold of a ger is discouraged, and visitors are advised to step over it.
- Offering first. Before drinking or eating, it is common to flick a drop of tea or spirits toward the sky or fire as a small offering.
- Direction and layout. The positions of the altar, bed and guest seats within a ger follow customary patterns, covered in the piece on ger layout.
- Sacred scarves. The khadag scarf is a ceremonial silk scarf, often blue, presented to guests and placed at sacred spots as a sign of respect.
- Keeping water clean. Some households avoid polluting streams and springs, for example by not washing clothes or dumping waste directly in them, though how widely this is followed varies.
Most of this is explained with the simple idea that you should be respectful, and the details can be asked about politely. The ger etiquette guide gives practical dos and don’ts.
Other faiths
Mongolia is predominantly Buddhist, but it is not uniform. Many Kazakh Mongolians, concentrated in the west, are Muslim. Christian communities have grown since the 1990s, and some people practice a mixture or no religion at all. Mongolian law protects freedom of religion, but visitors should treat each community’s practices with courtesy.
Tips for travelers
- Walk around temples and ovoos clockwise, following local custom.
- Ask before taking photographs inside temples or of ceremonies.
- Dress modestly at monasteries and remove hats where appropriate.
- Do not remove stones, offerings or objects from sacred places.
- If you are invited to join a small offering, follow what others do. Observation is usually enough.
Belief in Mongolia is not mainly about doctrine. It is a way of paying attention to the land, the household and the community, and noticing it adds a good deal to a visit.