Page 361 [361]
OCR
MORE KNOWLEDGE ON TARANATHA’S CULT IN MONGOLIA of the Bogd appeared in the country of Khalkha. That is what in /kh khüree is now called bündeger in Mongolian.” The story was written by Guna Sara who heard it from gawj (Tib. dka’bcu) Luwsan (Blo bzang) from Örlüüd aimag (Urlud khantsan), who retold what had been told him by the sage of /kh khüree. There are also memories on performing the rite to worship Täranätha’s skull presented by Mongolian lamas. N. Sereeter, an old lama from Gandan Monastery in Ulaanbaatar remembered in 1993: “T was born in Jargaltkhan district in Khentii province in 1908. It is not far from Ikh khüree, so 1 came here and stayed for ten years as a monk of the Yellow Palace, the main shrine of which was the Dechingalaw Temple. We performed the rite of “Worshipping and Sacrificing for the Ball” (Bündegeriin takhilga) in our monastery. In the temple of Vajradhara (Ochirdar) there were kept two objects — both as big as human heads — wrapped in khadags. One ball was said to be Taranatha’s head, the other — that of Odserbal. They were both kept wrapped in one big piece of silk and were both worshipped to at the same time. I was too young to be admitted to the ceremony, only old, respected lamas could see it. But in late 1920s — early 1930s I saw the ritual ceremony of worshipping the ball and even received my share from the sacrifices. The service was conducted by the khamba or ded khamba of Ikh khüree. There seemed to be a special prayer for the service. That was a so called “silent service” (chimeegiii takhilga). The lamas prayed by themselves just turning the pages silently. It was a secret service.” People also said that the heads had been lost by the time of great persecution (by the end of the 1930s). Someone Tserensoyog was responsible for the rite. The heads having been lost, he was driven out of the monastery. Here is another memory by Dashijal who lived in Shine-Ider district in Khöwsgöl province: “There was a rite of worshipping the ball (Bündegeriin takhil) in Ikh khüree. In the course of the ceremony they conducted a service of worshipping Jonang Taranatha’s skull for the sake of prosperity and good favour of monkhood. At the time of the Fifth Jebtstindamba khutagt a human size copper statue of Jonang Taranatha was erected with the skull placed inside as a sacred object (shiinshig). In 1937 when monasteries were being destructed, Choibalsan ordered the statue be placed in a museum. Now it is in Bogd Gegeen Museum.” Thus, at least four independent sources give proofs on the existence of a rite of worshipping Taranatha’s skull in /kh khtiree. One can suppose that scarcity of information on the rite is due to the fact that the cult of Taranatha was not widely spread 4 Nyamoëir, G.: Jonan Darnatin namtar. Ulanbatar 2012, p. 8. 359
