Rare Artifact: The Painting named "Arvan Zasgiin Naadam"

montastudio@montsame.gov.mn

2020-06-08 17:01:48

The Bogd Khan Palace Museum currently keeps a rare artifact: a painting named after a type of Naadam festival organized to worship Khentii mountains called ‘Arvan Zasgiin Naadam’, which illustratively documented the festival activities taking place near the Yellow State Palace and the Dechingalba Monastery in Khuree, the capital of the Bogd Khanate of Mongolia.

An anonymous Mongolian painter painted the artwork on a paper canvas with a ratio of 46x38 cm in the early 20th century.

Aside from having yellow as the base color, the painter highlighted each line with black. With many monks playing the horns and cymbals during Tsam dance, in the center, many lords, officials, and citizens are drawn around them as each of them are doing various actions.

The VIII Bogd Jebtsundamba Khutagt was previously a monk with records in Zuun Khuree where the ‘jakhar tsam’ dance used to be annually performed. The main deity for jakhar tsam is the God Brahma. At the time, a pavilion used to be set up in front of the main gate of the Yellow State Palace for the Bogd Khan to participate in the tsam ceremony wearing a chest piece with accessories made with bones and a garment resembling a half-apron.

In 1912, the Arvan Zasgiin Naadam was decided to be celebrated as a state naadam festival annually. The Naadam festival continued to be celebrated until the Bogd Khan’s death in 1925.