Traditional Environmental Calendar

A traditional environmental calendar, indicating the dates for worshipping natural sacred sites, has been published by the World Bank, the Alliance of Religions and Conservation (ARC) and Gandantegchenlin Monastery, with funding from the World Bank's Netherlands-Mongolia Trust Fund for Educational Reform. The calendar was produced following a recommendation of the Northern Buddhist Conference on Ecology and Development held in Ulaanbaatar last June, stemming from a proposal made by the Venerable Kh. Byambasuren of Erdene Zuu Monastery.
According to Mongolian and Tibetan Buddhist teachings, mountains, waters, the earth and plants are all controlled by invisible beings known as lus and savdag, which arrive and return on specific days of each month. Special appeasement offerings ought to be made to these beings on their dates of arrival, and any taking of life or disturbance of the natural world should be avoided on the dates of their return. Yet the astrological customs for identifying the dates of arrival of these spirits vary considerably, with the result that many Buddhists remain unaware of the actual days on which the natural spirits are supposed to arrive, and consequently perform forbidden actions such as cutting trees or killing animals on such dates.
This calendar, prepared with the rare collaboration of expert astrologers from different schools, has aimed to unify the various astrological customs into an authoritative schedule of the dates of the arrival of the lus. It is hoped that the distribution of this calendar through rural monasteries, on the eve of the lunar New Year, will support the campaign to revive some of the traditional rituals and taboos that formerly served to protect Mongolia's natural environment.

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