Buddhism
Appearing in Mongolia in the 13th century, Tibetan Buddhism did not become the state religion until the 16th century. The massive conversion of the population took place from 1565, when a Mongolian chief, Altan Khan, sought to impose it in order to dethrone the lineage of Chinggis Khan and legitimize his takeover.
Beginnings of Buddhism. In 1578, Altan Khan created the title of "Dalai Lama" - "Ocean of Wisdom", in reference to the Mongolian title of Dalai-yin qan. He attributed it to Sonam Gyatso, the religious leader of the Tibetan Gelugpa
school of Buddhism, also known as the "yellow cap school" because of the color of the caps worn by the monks during their service. In doing so, the khan recognizes Sonam Gyatso as the religious leader of all schools of Tibetan Buddhism and wishes that he supports his policy in return. It is the first time that a direct link between Buddhist religion and political power is established. By converting himself with great pomp and ceremony, Altan Khan was followed by a large part of the Mongolian population. The two previous Dalai Lamas were recognized posthumously, the line of reincarnation continuing until its 14th representative, Tenzin Gyatso, currently exiled in India, in Dharamsala. Today, the Tibetan Buddhists of Mongolia consider him as one of their spiritual leaders.The Gelugpa school. Founded at the beginning of the 15th century by Tsongkhapa, the Gelugpa
school, known as the "Yellow Cap" school, is the most recent of the four great lineages of Tibetan Tantric Buddhism. Faced with the slackness and the dissipated life of the monks, Tsongkhapa reforms Buddhism by underlining the importance of a monastic discipline, symbolized by the use of the yellow cap. To reach enlightenment, he advocated celibacy and insisted on the need to complete deep Buddhist philosophical studies before engaging in tantric practices. Although the Gelugpa school produced the lineage of the Dalai Lamas, it is the Ganden Tripa - "throne-bearer" - who is its spiritual leader. It is considered that Tsongkhapa's successor, Gyalstab Je, was the first Ganden tripa.Period of forced atheism.
The establishment of the communist regime in Mongolia in the early 1920s put a stop to the long-standing relationship between secular authorities and Buddhist institutions. The period of Soviet occupation was marked by a drastic drop in the number of monks. The latter represented more than a quarter of the male population in 1920, i.e. 110,000 monks distributed in more than 700 temples and monasteries. The communist authorities, who wished to set up their planned economy, felt threatened by such a large number of followers and sought to weaken the economic position of the monasteries by eradicating all institutional Buddhism. Massacres and purges became the lot of the Mongolian lamas, who were executed, married, forced to return to civilian life or enrolled in the army. The monasteries, which were the gathering points of the population and which had, for the most part, given birth to the great urban centers of the country, were transformed into museums or destroyed. Between 1937 and 1938, no less than 797 temples and monasteries were demolished and burned and 17,000 monks were executed! In the space of 15 years, the clergy lost more than 92% of its members. After the war, a monastic activity is again authorized, for a hundred monks, in the monastery of Gandan in Ulan-Bator. For nearly 50 years, this monastery is the only one in the country to be able to host religious activities, under strict surveillance.Return in force. In 1991, the collapse of the USSR allows Mongolia to open up to the Western world and marks the beginning of a religious revival. In 1992, there are already nearly a hundred temples reopened, which attests to the strong religiosity of Mongolians. Today, there are more than 5,000 monks in 200 temples and monasteries across the country, including about twenty in Ulaanbaatar.
Shamanism
This vast system of beliefs has existed for thousands of years in Mongolia. Without doctrine, nor holy writings, it certainly takes its source in ancient cults of the nature. It is based on the links between men and the spirits of nature and ancestors, and is accompanied by very strict rules and strong superstitions.
The shaman is the intermediary between men and these spirits. During his trances, he can communicate with them. He is consulted for all types of daily problems. There is no learning or teaching to become a shaman: one is a shaman by hereditary transmission or because one has powers.
The state of trance is reached without any chemical substance, to the rhythm of percussions played on a drum. This sacred object is central to shamanism and allows the shaman to communicate with the spirits.
Suppressed under the Soviet occupation, shamanism has experienced a new boom in the 1990s and remains very present in northern Mongolia. It coexists with Buddhism, the two religions exerting a great influence on each other. Yellow shamanism, widely practiced in Mongolia and tinged with Buddhist rites and traditions, is thus opposed to black shamanism, which has not been influenced by Buddhism.
Islam
Like shamanism, Islam has about 3% of practitioners in Mongolia, which makes it the second religion of the country. It is attested since at least 1254 thanks to the writings of the Franciscan Guillaume de Rubrouck. The latter, who travelled to the East, visited the court of the great Khan Möngke in Karakorum and reported that Saracen merchants and craftsmen freely practiced their religion there. At that time, the capital of the Mongol Empire was home to two mosques.
Today, there are about thirty mosques in Mongolia. Islam is mainly practiced by the Kazakh population in the west of the country. It is a Sunni Islam, largely concentrated in the Altai region, between the aimags of Bayan-Ölgi and Khovd.
Christianity
Nestorianism is one of the most influential forms of Christianity in the world during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. It is found in Mongolia at the court of King Möngke, as evidenced by the literary work of William of Rubrouck.
After marrying Tuluy, the favorite son of Chinggis Khan, the princess Sorgakhtani, of Nestorian faith, raises her children in the Christian faith. Under the reign of Möngke, her eldest son, the Christian cult continued to develop according to the rites of the Nestorian Church.
Nowadays, the spread of Christianity and new religions among the population has its origin in the opening of Mongolia in the early 1990s. The year 1992 marks the exit of the country from the Soviet bloc and is accompanied by a certain revival of local religions, but also by the arrival of religious congregations in the capital. Catholics, Protestants, Orthodox, Evangelists and even Jehovah's Witnesses, Adventists and Mormons flocked to Ulaanbaatar. Christianity, then associated with the Western world, grew not only through missionaries, but also through humanitarian activities.
In November 1993, in order to preserve traditional religions and to curb the activities of these proselytes, the authorities put in place a law imposing Buddhism as a state religion and prohibiting any religious activity organized from outside without a government invitation. From now on, any opening of a new place of worship is subject to the approval of local authorities and the Ministry of Justice.
In July 2016, the first Mongolian priest in Ulaanbaatar, Joseph Enkh Baatar, was ordained, demonstrating that Christianity is no longer the preserve of foreigners in Mongolia.
