Tsagan Sar

Origin

The holiday Tsagan Sar dates back to the religious traditions of the Mongolian peoples. It is a symbol of the renewal of man and nature, openness and purity of thoughts, hope and good expectations. The name of the holiday comes from the Mongolian words mong. Tsagaan - White and Mong. sar is the month. The “White Month” was originally considered a holiday of dairy products and was celebrated in the fall . At this time, preparing for the future dairy products, which were consumed on holidays, was ending.

Holiday in the XIII century.

The grandson of Genghis Khan , the great khan of the Yuan dynasty, Khubilai, moved the time of New Year's celebration from autumn to the end of winter under the influence of Chinese astrology . Thus, the Mongol Tsagan Sar was timed to the beginning of the year in a twelve-year cycle. The following was described by the court "white holiday" by his witness and contemporary Khubilai, Marco Polo :

After the expulsion of the Mongols from China in the XIV century, the tradition of celebrating Sagan Sarah at the end of winter was brought to Mongolia itself . Thus, the name of the holiday - “white” - lost its original “milky” meaning, and acquired a more general meaning. The name “white month” reflects color symbolism common to Mongolian peoples, according to which white color - a symbol of holiness and purity - is associated with happiness and prosperity.

Buddhist celebration traditions

With the beginning of the wide spread of Tibetan Buddhism among the Mongolian peoples in the 17th century, the Mongol Tsagan Sar included Buddhist rituals and mythology.

Rituals

The main imperative of the entire Buddhist ritual associated with the celebration of the new year was the deliverance from all sins accumulated in the previous year. The central ritual still remains a penitential one-day post ( Tib. Sojong ), followed by the ceremony of burning the “ litter ” - a black pyramid symbolizing the accumulated evil sacrificed to the spirits of the area ^[2] . The rituals of the first two weeks of the new month are associated, firstly, with the celebration of the New Year, and secondly, with the “fifteen great miracles” of Buddha Shakyamuni and his victories over six teachers of other religions ^[3] . Thus, the celebration of the new year in Buddhist Mongolia came into line with the canons of the celebration of the Tibetan New Year's celebration - Losar .

Popular Mythology

Buddhist popular mythology connects the festival Tsagan Sar, the beginning of spring, with the name of the Buddhist deity dharmapala , the goddess Baldan Lhamo . According to legend, every year after another victory over the Mangus and the salvation of the sun swallowed by the lord of hell Yama ( Mong. Erlag nomyn khan ), she descends to the ground, warms her with her warmth, and spring begins. Colds recede, winter feedlessness leaves, a new season begins in the economic activity of pastoralists. They calculate the losses incurred in the winter, and rejoice in the approaching warm season.

The image of the angry Buddhist goddess sometimes coexists with the image of the White Elder ( Mong. Tsagaan өvgөn ), the traditional Buddhist embodiment of fertility and longevity.

Holiday in New Time

Since the 19th century , with the assimilation of the Gregorian calendar , Tsagan Sar in Kalmykia was not celebrated precisely as the beginning of the calendar year, however, the Volga Kalmyks, who migrated from the Russian Empire in 1771 , retained the traditional ritual: their descendants living in Xinjiang ( China ) note Tsagan Sar is like New Year . Strengthening the New Year nature of the spring celebration was facilitated by the fact that the Chinese traditional New Year celebrates at about the same time.

Modern Holiday

In the 1930s, the celebration of Tsagan Sarah in the USSR was banned. The revival of the traditions of the celebration took place only in the post-war period, the status of a national holiday was received only in 1990 ^[4] .

Today is the first day of Sagaalgan in the republics of Altai, Buryatia, Tuva and the Trans-Baikal Territory ^[5] , as well as in the territories of the Aginsky Buryat Autonomous Okrug and the Ust-Orda Buryat Autonomous Okrug is a day off ^{[6] [7] [8]} .

According to the Law of the Republic of Kalmykia of October 13, 2004 N 156-III-З “On holidays and memorable days in the Republic of Kalmykia” the Tsagan Sar holiday is a national holiday of Kalmykia.

According to the Law of the Republic of Tyva dated February 3, 1999 No. 143 "On holidays of the Republic of Tyva", Shaghaa holiday (New Year according to the lunar calendar) was given the status of a "national holiday", its date is annually established by the decision of the Supreme Hural (parliament) of the Republic of Tyva in accordance with eastern lunar calendar ^[9] .

They prepared for the celebrations in advance, slaughtered cattle for the future, since it was forbidden to do this directly during the holidays. The celebration took place in every home. They hung new clothes on the rope, shook all the clothes. Cooked meat - lamb , beef or horse meat , cooked buuzy .

Ritual mutual greeting

The traditional greeting was an important ritual with which two people who met on this day addressed each other. The significance of this greeting is so great and the duration of its action is so long that, for example, Tuvans could not greet each other for a year, arguing that they already greeted them in the White Month.

Kalmyks at the meeting asked: “Have members and livestock left the wintering grounds safely?” ^[10] . The utterance of these words was accompanied by special gestures, depending on the gender and age of the greeters. During the White month, the Mongols, Buryats and Tuvans made the following gesture: the younger to the eldest (a woman to a man, if they are peers) stretches both hands with palms up, the elder puts his hands down on them from above, the younger supports the elder under his elbows. In this gesture - and respect, and the promise, if necessary, of help and support. Kalmyks did similar welcome gestures differently. The younger one held out both hands to the older one. The elder gave him one right. The youngest covered her with his own hands from two sides. Both bowed their heads in a small bow. The elder could give both hands, in this case the two made exactly the same gestures, clasping each other's right hands. With this gesture, they could greet equal in age. The woman in this welcome gesture was obliged to lower the sleeves as much as possible to completely hide the hands in them. In a strange house, congratulations were made as follows: the person who greeted stood on his right knee, brought his folded palms to his forehead, and said the traditional greeting: “We left the winter safely!” ^[11] .

Visiting

Going to visit is an indispensable component of the Sagaalgan holiday. Even those living far these days came to meet with their relatives. There were certain norms: the sequence of visits, the nature of the gifts depended on the position of the person. They visited their parents, mother's relatives - they always enjoyed special respect; daughter-in-law came to the house of the husband’s parents with the children to worship their ancestors and patrons. An indispensable element of holiday gifts was a bunch of wrestlers .

Gifts

The traditional ritual gift is the national flour dish “ borsok ”. Bortsoki was made from sweet unleavened dough and fried in boiling fat. Of these, sets were made - for offering the "first portion" to the Buddhas , as well as gift sets - for presenting to relatives during the holiday visits. The form of the wrestlers included in the sets had symbolic meaning: animal figures expressed the desire for offspring of the corresponding cattle; in the form of an occasion - good luck. So, the Huts wrestlers, fashioned in the form of a sheep figurine, meant the wish of a large offspring of this type of cattle and reflected to some extent the ancient rite of sacrifice by animals, that is, they replaced the real sacrifice with its image. A similar role was played by the borsoki “whale”, the shape of which resembled part of the horse's entrails, and the bortsok “өvrte tohsh”, symbolizing cattle. Bortsoki “moshkmr” - twisted, resembling a national dish of boiled lamb innards, small “horkha” (literal translation: insects). The Jola wrestlers, depicting the motive, were to call for endless luck. And bringing the borsok “shoshkhr”, they expressed a desire to live as a single family, as well as to have protection from enemies.

Offerings

In the early morning of the holiday, a sprinkling ceremony was performed ( Kalm. Zulg orgh ): upon crossing the threshold of the house, the owner sprinkled around the first cup of freshly brewed tea as an offering to the ancestors and the White Elder. Bortsoks in the form of the sun and lotus were used to symbolically offer the burkhanas . Among the Don Kalmyks, the kind of wrestlers “Burkhan Hall”, or “tsag”, in the form of a brush symbolizing the lotus, was especially loved. He was placed at the top of Deedy Boortsg. Bortsoks in the form of the sun are large flat cakes, called in some ethnic groups “havtha”, in others - “tselvg”. “Khavtha” - a whole cake with pips along the edges or with four holes in the center, at the wrestlers of “celvg” the edges are even, and small holes are radially arranged around their circumference. “Khavtha” or “tselvg” was prepared first of all and invariably set as deedzhi. All the other wrestlers listed above were placed in this set.

• Chinese New Year
• Tet
• New Year in Japan
• Korean New Year
• Losar
• On house
• Zul
• Shagaa (Tuvan version)
• Chyl Pazy (Khakass version)
• Ysyakh (Yakut version)

• Sagaalgan - Buddhist New Year RIA Novosti
• Sagaalgan. Do we know everything about the history of the main Buryat holiday? (Russian) . Arigus . Date of treatment February 21, 2018.

• Bakaev E.P. Buddhism in Kalmykia. Elista, 1994.
• Badmaeva T. “Sagaalgan. Culture and traditions "
• Buryats are preparing for "Praise of Sagaalgan"