Mongolian wrestling is a traditional Mongolian sport that has existed in Mongolia for centuries.

Böke is Mongol for "wrestling", and is one of Mongolia’s age-old "Three Manly Skills" (along with horsemanship and archery).

Genghis Khan considered wrestling to be an important way to keep his army in good physical and combat shape. Böke was also used occasionally as a way of eliminating political rivals. Mongol history records incidents of the Khan arranging to have political enemies killed via a wrestling match.

The Manchu dynasty (1646-1911) Imperial court held regular wrestling events, mainly between Manchu and Mongol wrestlers.

There are two different versions, Mongolian (in the country of Mongolia), and Inner Mongolian (in northern China).

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Mongolian musician

Mongolia is a nation located in Asia, and its people form a distinct ethnic group composed of several smaller tribes and clans. The Russian Republic of Tuva and parts of China (including Inner Mongolia) also include large minorities of Mongols. Music is integral part of Mongolian culture. Communism in Mongolia lasted from 1924 and 1992; during this time, many aspects of indigenous culture were repressed throughout the country. The Mongol minorities in China and Russia were similarly repressed, at least for certain periods of the 20th century.

In Mongolia, Communist control led to the forced cultural domination of the Khalkhas, who are the largest ethnic group in the country. Traditional styles of music were modernized and standardized, sometimes adding European elements. Traditional long-songs are one of the greatest features of Mongolian music.

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Orkhon Valley Cultural Landscape sprawls along the banks of the Orkhon River in Central Mongolia, some 360 km west from the capital Ulaanbaatar. It was inscribed by UNESCO in the World Heritage List as representing evolution of nomadic pastoral traditions spanning more than two millennia.

Importance

For many centuries, the Orkhon Valley was viewed as the seat of the imperial power of the steppes. The first evidence comes from a stone stele with runic inscriptions, which was erected in the valley by Bilge Khan, an 8th-century ruler of the Göktürk Empire. Some 25 miles to the north of the stele, in the shadow of the sacred forest-mountain Ötüken, was his Ördü, or nomadic capital. During the Qidan domination of the valley, the stele was reinscribed in three languages, so as to record the deeds of a Qidan potentate.

Mountains were considered sacred in Tengriism as an axis mundi, but Ötüken was especially sacred because the ancestor spirits of the khagans and beys resided here. Moreover, a force called qut was believed to emanate from this mountain, granting the khagan the divine right to rule the Turkic tribes. Whoever controlled this valley was considered heavenly appointed leader of the Turks and could rally the tribes. Thus control of the Orkhon Valley was of the utmost strategic importance for every Turkic state. Historically every Turkic-Mongolian capital (Ördü) was located here for this exact reason.

Sites

The main monuments of the Orkhon Valley are as follows:

1. Early 8th-century Turkish memorials to Bilge Khan and Kul Tigin with their Orkhon inscriptions are admittedly the most impressive monuments from the nomadic Göktürk Empire. They were excavated and deciphered by Russian archaeologists in 1889-93.
2. Ruins of Khar Balgas, an 8th-century capital of the Uyghur Empire, which cover 50 square km and contain evidence of the palace, shops, temples, monasteries, etc.
3. Ruins of Genghis Khan's capital Karakorum which could have included the famed Xanadu palace.
4. Erdene Zuu monastery is the first Buddhist monastery established in Mongolia. It was partly destroyed by Communist authorities in 1937-40.
5. Tuvkhun Hermitage is another spectacular monastery, overlooking a hill at 2,600 m. above sea-level. Likewise, it was almost totally destroyed by the Communists.
6. Remains of the 13th and 14th century Mongol palace at Doit Hill, thought to be Ögedei Khan's residence.

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Taken from; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orkhon_Valley

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The Amarbayasgalant Monastery or "monastery of tranquil felicity", once one of the three largest Buddhist centres in Mongolia is located near the Selenge River in the Iven Valley, at the foot of Mount Buren-Khaan.

Built between 1727 and 1736, it is one of the very few monasteries to have partly escaped the destruction of 1937, after which only the buildings of the central section remained. The entire contents: the tankas, statues and manuscripts were looted by the Communists or hidden until more fortunate times. Restoration work began in 1988 and some of the new deities were commissioned in Delhi, India.

The monastery was originally built to house the remains of Zanabazar, the first Bogd Gegeen, the "August light". Unlike the Erdene Zuu monastery, which is composed of an ensemble of temple halls of different styles, Amarbayasgalant shows great stylistic unity. The overall style is Chinese, despite some Mongol and Tibetan influence. The plan is symmetrical and the main buildings succeed one another along a North-South axis, while the secondary buildings are laid out on parallel side axes.

External links

• Amarbayasgalant Monastery Site

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