Lunar New Year

On Feb 11st, we began to celebrate Tsaagan Tsar, which is the first day of the year according to the Mongolian Lunar Calendar (Tibetan tradition). A great deal of work is required to prepare for the country’s most important feast. Up until the first day of celebrations the stores were packed with anxious shoppers trying to buy food and gifts to give to each guest who comes to visit them. The women had the hardest work. They spend several days preparing hundreds of booz (meat dumplings) and dairy foods to mark the occasion. Well-off families prepare and serve a stewed side of sheep as well. While most Europeans and North Americans would cut off the fat due to health reasons, the fat is the most important for Mongolians since it is seen as a sign of abundance and a source of strength.

Perhaps the most important thing to prepare for Tsaagan Tsar is the pyramid of traditional cookies (boov) erected on a large dish in a special fashion which is filled with dried yogurt curds, boiled goat fat and candies. This symbol is as characteristic of Tsaagan Tsar as the tree is for Christmas. The older and richer a person is, the greater the number of layers. The minimum would be 3 whereas the maximum would be 11 layers. Regardless, they must be stacked in an odd number. One layer represents joy whereas the other represents sorrow. You must always begin and end with joy. The platter is placed on a table near the north side of the ger. It remains intact for three full days, after which the family dismantles and eats all of the treats.

The day before Tsagaan Sar is called Bituun, the name of the lunar phase of dark moon. Usually, only immediate family remain together for this evening celebration. This is also a time of year when Mongolians try to settle all outstanding financial issues and resolve long standing problems in order to begin the new year with a fresh start. They cannot leave their ger until first rays of sunlight enters through the opening of the roof. Many men gathered together on “Pink-Headed Hill” just behind our mission in the countryside of Arvaiheer in order to be touched by the first rays of the rising sun. They believe it brings blessings and good fortune. Upon sunrise, each returns home to begin the great feast.

On this first day, wearing our deels (traditional Mongolian dress) and with our blue scarves in hand, we entered each ger and first greeted the eldest male of the household all the way down to the youngest child present. During the greeting, the youngest person must always place their arms underneath the older persons arms in order to show that they support them. The traditional greeting is “Amar cain uu?” or “Are you at peace?”. We then asked them how their spring season was going as we exchanged snuff bottles.

We wish all of our Mongolian friends not only a year but a lifetime of blessings from the God who lives in the magnificent “Blue Sky”.