Ulaanbaatar
‘The Last Queen of Mongolia’ exhibition opens
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To enrich the public’s knowledge about Queen Consort Dondogdulam’s scholarly side as well as her personality, the exhibition, ‘The Last Queen of Mongolia’, has opened, displaying the exhibits that relate to her, being stored in the Bogd Khaan’s Palace museum.
Her belongings including snuff bottle, pipe, prayer beads and pearl vest and cap, which were intricately crafted by the craftsmen of the Bogd Khaan’s palace in the beginning of the XX century were displayed. Aside from being literate in Tibetan, the queen consort was not only skillful in arts and crafts, but also doing Chod Lujin with her great melodious voice according to the elderly monks.
Director of the Bogd Khaan Palace Museum Ts.Erdenebaatar said, “Not everyone knows about what kind of person the queen was and her contribution to the Mongolian rule. The Queen Consort Dondogdulam was very educated. She used to do Lujin and even conducted oracular rite or “Chojin” in some cases. “Chojin” is to call down divine spirits. Some say that if she recited Buddhist sutras at a place that had a drought or dzud (severe winter), the harsh conditions would soon cease.”
The Culture and Arts Authority has taken measures to preserve the sites which have bonds with the Queen Consort Dondogdulam and in partnership with the Institute of History and Archeology at the Mongolian Academy of Sciences made research and archeological excavation, publishing a handbook on their research. The findings, such as a clay Buddha sculpture, scraps of paper and human skull made out of clay, were also displayed at the exhibition.
Director of the Bogd Khan Palace Museum Ts.Erdenebaatar said, “Only about 12-13 percent of our total collection are put on display at the museum. The artifacts of this exhibition are a part of that 80 percent which are kept hidden.”
According to people, since the Queen Consort Dondogdulam was proclaimed as the Tara Queen, the Bogd Khan’s summer palaces including Green Palace and Khaistai Laviran became rapidly prosperous. After her death in 1923, it is said that her corpse was respectfully transported with eight light-colored horses to the current Sharga Morit Valley, to be melted in clarified butter. From that time on, the locals say that eight trees, each of different type began to grow in the nearby mountain passes, which still remain to this day. The eight horses that were used for transport were venerated as sacred, which became the name of the valley, ‘Sharga Morit’- having light bay horse.
The exhibition will run until December 9 at the Bogd Khan Palace Museum, free of admission.
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