Letter from Mongolia 27: This Year’s Maidar Procession at Delgeriin Choira

The following annotated photographic record presents three moments from this year’s Maidar procession at Delgeriin Choira (Дэлгэрийн Чойр) in the Gobi, with brief ethnographic notes providing cultural and ritual context for readers less familiar with Mongolian Buddhist practice.

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Plate note: Zava Damdin Rinpoche (Зава Дамдин Ринбүчи, b. 1976) holding the Maidar statue of Delgeriin Choira (Дэлгэрийн Чойр). The statue is used in the monastery’s annual Maidar procession and remains an important object within the continuity of its ritual life. Location: Delgeriin Choira (Дэлгэрийн Чойр), Delgertsogt Sum, 4 July 2026. Photograph: Zava Damdin Sutra and Scripture Institute of Mongolia Archive. Reproduced on CPinMongolia.com with permission.

Plate note: Zava Damdin Rinpoche (Зава Дамдин Ринбүчи, b. 1976) holding the Maidar statue of Delgeriin Choira (Дэлгэрийн Чойр). The statue is integral to the monastery’s annual Maidar procession and remains an important object within the continuity of its ritual life. Location: Delgeriin Choira (Дэлгэрийн Чойр), Delgertsogt Sum, 4 July 2026. Photograph: Zava Damdin Sutra and Scripture Institute of Mongolia Archive. Reproduced on CPinMongolia.com with permission.

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Plate note: Zava Damdin Rinpoche (Зава Дамдин Ринбүчи, b. 1976) sounds a pair of denshig, miniature Mongolian Buddhist ritual cymbals, as the cart carrying the green horse and the procession of monks and lay participants circumambulate the perimeter of Delgeriin Choira (Дэлгэрийн Чойр). Cast as two thick, tuned brass discs and joined in this instance by a metal chain, the cymbals are engraved with auspicious symbols (өлзийт бэлгэдэл, ölziit belgedel). They are sounded by bringing their outer rims together, producing a clear, high-pitched tone that continues to resonate after each strike. Their sound accompanies the movement of the procession around the monastery precinct, marking its ritual progress. Reverence (хүндэтгэл, khündetgel) and ceremonial order (ёслолын дэг журам, yoslolyn deg juram) are joined here by a palpable sense of joy among those taking part. Location: Delgeriin Choira (Дэлгэрийн Чойр), Delgertsogt Sum, 4 July 2026. Photograph: Zava Damdin Sutra and Scripture Institute of Mongolia Archive. Reproduced on CPinMongolia.com with permission.

Plate note: Zava Damdin Rinpoche (Зава Дамдин Ринбүчи, b. 1976) sounds a pair of denshig, miniature Mongolian Buddhist ritual cymbals, as the cart carrying the green horse and the procession of monks and lay participants circumambulate the perimeter of Delgeriin Choira (Дэлгэрийн Чойр). Cast as two thick, tuned brass discs and joined in this instance by a metal chain, the cymbals are engraved with auspicious symbols (өлзийт бэлгэдэл, ölziit belgedel). They are sounded by bringing their outer rims together, producing a clear, high-pitched tone that continues to resonate after each strike. Their sound accompanies the movement of the procession around the monastery precinct, marking its ritual progress. Reverence (хүндэтгэл, khündetgel) and ceremonial order (ёслолын дэг журам, yoslolyn deg juram) are joined here by a palpable sense of joy among those taking part. Location: Delgeriin Choira (Дэлгэрийн Чойр), Delgertsogt Sum, 4 July 2026. Photograph: Zava Damdin Sutra and Scripture Institute of Mongolia Archive. Reproduced on CPinMongolia.com with permission.

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Plate note: The green horse in the Maidar procession represents Maidar’s future advent into the human world. In Mongolian Buddhist ritual, the horse is not merely a mount but a vehicle of auspicious arrival, linking the future Buddha with movement through the human realm and the hope of a renewed age of Dharma. In Mongolian processions, the horse is commonly led rather than ridden. The person holding the reins does not “control” Maidar but serves the procession by guiding the symbolic vehicle through the ritual space. This reflects service, respect, and ritual responsibility rather than authority over the sacred figure. Mongolian sources also place considerable emphasis on the procession as a communal act involving monks and laypeople together. The reins therefore become a point of contact between the monastic ritual and the lay community, with the lay attendant helping to facilitate the ritual enactment. There is no widely attested Mongolian doctrinal rule stating that the reins must be held by an adolescent male. The available historical literature on Mongolian Maidar processions does not prescribe such an age category in the way that some rituals specify children, virgins, or ordained monks. However, ethnographically there are several plausible, culturally grounded considerations. A young man may embody vigour, physical capability, and readiness to assume adult responsibilities within the community. His participation can publicly acknowledge his transition into greater social responsibility, especially in a pastoral society where adolescence marks increasing obligations towards household, livestock, and community. Being entrusted with the reins is likely understood as an honour requiring good conduct and reliability rather than conferring ritual status. In many Mongolian ceremonial contexts, visible roles are entrusted to respected lay participants whose demeanour reflects well on their family and community. Location: Delgeriin Choira, Delgertsogt Sum, 4 July 2026. Photograph: Zava Damdin Sutra and Scripture Institute of Mongolia Archive. Reproduced on CPinMongolia.com with permission.

Plate note: The green horse in the Maidar procession represents Maidar’s future advent into the human world. In Mongolian Buddhist ritual, the horse is not merely a mount but a vehicle of auspicious arrival, linking the future Buddha with movement through the human realm and the hope of a renewed age of Dharma.
In such Mongolian processions, the horse is commonly led rather than ridden. The person holding the reins does not “control” Maidar but serves the procession by guiding the symbolic vehicle through the ritual space. This reflects service, respect, and ritual responsibility rather than authority over the sacred figure.
Mongolian sources also place considerable emphasis on the procession as a communal act involving monks and laypeople together. The reins therefore become a point of contact between the monastic ritual and the lay community, with the lay attendant helping to facilitate the ritual enactment.
There is no widely attested Mongolian doctrinal rule stating that the reins must be held by an adolescent male. The available historical literature on Mongolian Maidar processions does not prescribe such an age category in the way that some rituals specify children, virgins, or ordained monks.
However, ethnographically there are several plausible, culturally grounded considerations. A young man may embody vigour, physical capability, and readiness to assume adult responsibilities within the community. His participation can publicly acknowledge his transition into greater social responsibility, especially in a pastoral society where adolescence marks increasing obligations towards household, livestock, and community.
Being entrusted with the reins is likely understood as an honour requiring good conduct and reliability rather than conferring ritual status. In many Mongolian ceremonial contexts, visible roles are entrusted to respected lay participants whose demeanour reflects well on their family and community. Location: Delgeriin Choira, Delgertsogt Sum, 4 July 2026. Photograph: Zava Damdin Sutra and Scripture Institute of Mongolia Archive. Reproduced on CPinMongolia.com with permission.

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NOTES

Circumambulation: The procession moves clockwise, following the course of the sun—nar zöv (нар зөв, “sunwise”)—the auspicious direction conventionally observed in Mongolian Buddhist circumambulation and other forms of ritual movement (Humphrey 1999; Teleki and Nandinbaatar 2019).

The green horse: The green horse is a ritual representation rather than an ordinary ceremonial mount. Carried on the procession cart, it signifies the vehicle of Maidar’s future arrival and forms one of the most distinctive elements of the Mongolian Maidar ergekh (Майдар эргэх), or Maidar circumambulation (Tsultem 2015; Teleki and Nandinbaatar 2019).

Revival: Zava Damdin Rinpoche has led the procession annually since 2005, when he began rebuilding and revitalising Delgeriin Choira following its near-destruction during the socialist period. The restored procession belongs to the wider revival of Mongolian Buddhist institutions, ritual practices, and monastic communities since 1990, while also forming part of the particular history of Delgeriin Choira documented by CPinMongolia.com from 2004 to the present ( CPinMongolia.com 2014–2026).

Maidar devotion: It is important to note here that Maidar devotion is not doctrinally exclusive to the Gelug tradition. Maitreya is a future Buddha recognised across Mahāyāna Buddhism, including Kagyu traditions. In Mongolia, however, the public Maidar procession became historically associated above all with the Gelug monastic establishment. From the seventeenth century onward, most major Mongolian monasteries, ritual calendars, scholastic institutions, and public festivals developed within a Gelug framework. The well-documented Mongolian form of Maidar ergekh—the circumambulating procession with the image or chariot of Maidar—therefore appears in the sources chiefly as a Gelug institutional practice (Tsultem 2015; Teleki and Nandinbaatar 2019).

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FURTHER READING

Letter from Mongolia 23: The Maidar Procession

Humphrey, C. (1999). “Rituals of Death in Mongolia: Their Implications for Understanding the Mutual Constitution of Persons and Objects and Certain Concepts of Property.” Inner Asia, 1(1), 59–86.

Pegg, C. (2001). Mongolian Music, Dance, and Oral Narrative: Performing Diverse Identities. Seattle: University of Washington Press.

Teleki, K., & Nandinbaatar, M. (2019). “Maitreya Procession in Mongolia.” Shashin Soyol Sudlal (Religion and Cultural Studies).

Tsultem, U. (2015). “The Power and Authority of Maitreya in Mongolia Examined through Mongolian Art.” In V. A. Wallace (Ed.), Buddhism in Mongolian History, Culture, and Society. New York: Oxford University Press.

 

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