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LAMIIN GEGEEN’S SMOKE OFFERING RITUAL TO THE KHANGAI MOUNTAIN RANGE Earth Deity, Khangai King”)° is widely known in Mongolia as Khangain san, the “Smoke Offering Ritual to the Khangai.” It is a basic text of the Khangai’s veneration recited in local monasteries in Ow6rkhangai and Bayankhongor provinces even in these days.’ Monks of previous centuries multiplied the original, Tibetan text for personal use, translated it into Mongolian,* and its modern Mongolian version with golden libation offering is available, too.° Veneration of the Khangai Mountain Range and Khangai Khan, its Mighty King The Khangai Mountain Range is one of the largest mountain ranges in Mongolia, along with the Altai and Khentii Mountains. It is a source of many rivers, including the Orkhon, Ider, Dsawkhan, and Tamir Rivers. Its flora and fauna are abundant.!° The protector deity or local spirit of the mountain range is Khangai Khan or Khangai Burkhan, the mighty Khangai King or Khangai Deity. The veneration of mountains and at the stone or wood cairns (owoo), which indicate a sacred site, is a Mongolian practice that precedes Buddhism.'! However, the Buddhist form of pacification and propitiation through smoke and other offerings to local spirits of nature began to spread throughout the Mongol territories in the 17" century in which the “three lamps of the Geluk tradition” had significant role. The ® Lamiin Gegeen’s Collected Works, blockprint, ff. 19r-20v. I am grateful to Ven. Ragchaa Byambaa, University of Warsaw, who kindly provided me the copy of the text, which serves as base of translation. See also Byambaa, R. — Gandsorig, D.: Mongoliin Burkhan shashinii nomiin ikh Mergediin neg..., 112, 0124 refereed in Mongolian as Khangai khaanii nutgiin edsnii mash khuraangui solkh. 7 At present, the monks recite the Khangai prayers written by their old, eminent, local saint or master. For instance, Lamiin Gegeen’s texts are popular in Ow6rkhangai province, whereas that of Dsaya Gegeen in Arkhangai province. § The Hungarian Mongolist, Olivér Kapolnas possesses a Mongolian text which I defined as translation of Lamiin Gegeen’s text with an additional text. Also, three texts called Oangyai-yin sang orosibai are available in the National Library of Mongolia (4765/96, 8675/96, 20940/98), and one or two in the Mongolian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Language and Literature (918, 0269) which should be compared with the present translation. " Dgra tha chen po hang ka’i rgyal po’i bsangs gser skyems bzhugs so/ https://m.facebook.com/ 100050829601387/posts/419598906411093/?sfnsn=mo. The Tibetan text includes minor differences compared to the original one. For instance, Vajrabhairava is mentioned instead of Heruka, as meditational deity. '0 The most sacred peak of the Khangai Mountain Range is Otgontenger (“Youngest deity”, 4021 meters high), residence of Vajrapani. See Wallace, Vesna A.: “How Vajrapani became a Mongol?” In: Buddhism in Mongolian History, Culture and Society. Ed. Wallace, Vesna A. Oxford University Press, New York 2015, 3-16. 11 The nomadic Mongols have venerated nature, Father Sky (Tengri) and Mother Earth, and their immediate environment since ancient times. One finds traces of this in Mongolian honorific names for mountains, such as “king” (khan) and “majesty” (khairkhan). Regarding owoos see Birtalan, Agnes: Typology of the Stone Cairns Obos and Their Symbolical Meaning (Preliminary Report, Based on Mongolian Fieldwork Material Collected in 1991— 1995). In: Tibetan Mountain Deities. Their Cults and Representations, Proceedings of the 7th Seminar of the International Association for Tibetan Studies. Ed. Blondeau, Anne-Marie. Verlag der Osterreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna 1998, 199-210. 103
