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KRISZTINA TELEKI smoke purification offerings in general aim to pacify and delight celestial beings and the spirit owners or custodians of natural sites such as mountains, rivers, lakes, forests, rocks, and plants. They are called /us sawdag in Mongolian (Tib. klu sa bdag, gzhi bdag, Skr. naga). These rituals and offerings, which include different real and imagined scented incense and other precious goods, encourage these beings to ensure the well-being and good fortune of the inhabitants of the given region. Being the local spirit or lord of the Khangai Mountain Range, Khangai Khan has various epithets.!? A few pictorial representations and ritual texts describe him: the colour of his body is like shimmery sunbeams on a snowy mountain. He holds a vajra in his right hand and a bowl of jewels in his left hand, in his lap. His retinue includes his female consort (a queen) as well as various local gods and spirits who live in the nearby valleys, lakes, and springs.'* Eminent monks of past centuries wrote ritual texts in different genres to Khangai Khan such as Lamiin Gegeen, the Khalkha Dsaya Pandita, the Fourth Yalguusan Khutagt (Blo bzang bsam ‘grub, 1820-1882), Dsawa Lam Damdin (Blo bzang rta dbyangs, 1867-1937), and even the Eighth Panchen Lama (Blo bzang dpal Idan bstan pa’i nyi ma phyogs las rnam rgyal, 1782-1853) and others. About 50 Tibetan and four Mongolian texts are available in the collections of Ulaanbaatar (some of them are duplums), '* and individuals also possess relevant ritual texts. Lamiin Gegeen’s text seems to have various copies in print, and written in hand being perhaps the most popular text devoted to the Khangai Mountain Range in Mongolia.’ 12 Tibetan texts include the following epithets: a divine devotee (Tib. /ha’i dge bsnyen), a male deity (Tib. pho tha hang kas), Khangai King or Khangai Majesty (Khangai khairkhan, Tib. Hang ka’i rgyal po), a guardian of the Northern direction (Tib. byang phyogs skyong ba), Mighty Deity, Khangai (Tib. Hang kas lha chen), and Great War God (Tib. dgra tha chen po). Fleming, Zara — Lkhagwademchig, J. Shastri: Mongolian Buddhist Art: Masterpieces from the Museums of Mongolia. Vol. I, Part 1&2: Thangkas, Embroideries, and Appliqués. Serindia Publications, Chicago 2011, 924-925, in Chapter 7: Protectors, Image 419. Isabelle Charleux has analysed the pictorial representations of Khangai Khan, see Charleux, Isabelle: On Several Thang Kas depicting Mongol Mountain Deities. In: Felicitation Volume for Prof: Choyiji. Ed. Osamu Inoue — BarejaStarzyhska, Agata — Quanrong. Varsovie: Polskie Towarzystwo Orientalistyczne (Polish Society for Oriental Studies) (Miscellanea Orientalia Series) (in print). According to O. Sükhbaatar, Lamiin Gegeen described Khangai Khan, his aspects and retinue in detail, but the text he refered to has not been found yet: Tib. dGe mtshan bcu Idan lha tshan hang gas rgyal po la bsang mchod ‘bul tshul bzhugs so. Smoke Offering devoted to the Khangai King bearing the Ten Auspicious Signs. Cf. Stikhbaatar, O.: Khangai khanii sangiin sudar. In: Lamiin gegeen Luwsandandsanjantsan (1639-1704). Erdem shinjilgeenii bichig. Ed. Khiirelbaatar, L. Ulaanbaatar 1999, 79-85. Siikhbaatar, O., Mongoliin takhilgat uul usnii sudar orshwoi. Ulaanbaatar 2001. 'S” Teleki, Krisztina: Sacred Texts devoted to Khangai Khan, the Lord of the Khangai Mountain Range Preserved in the Collections of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia (article in print). Mentioning some examples, the individual text is available in the Ulaanbaatar City Public Library (Khang ka’i rgyal po’i gsol kha shin tu bsdus pa bzhugs, manuscript, ff. Ir-3v, Russian paper, 7x21.5 cm, 31871, http://koha.pl.ub.gov.mn/). It is also part of the text Bsang chog bkra shis char 'begs/ hang ka’i gsol kha g.yang gugs bkra shis bzhugs (National Library of Mongolia, M0059788-001, 10r-13r) and the private archives of Ch. Gansükh, National Library of Mongolia, who claims that this blockprint was probably printed in Arwain Khüree (Öwörkhangai province, Arwaikheer) with the title Bsang chog bkra shis char 'bebs/ bsang chog khyab bdag ma/ yang gsang gi bsang/ Hang ka’i gsol kha g.yang 'gug bkra shis bzhugs, blockprint, ff. Ir-11r (part related to Khangai Khan, 8v—10r), and also probably S:M0054146-049 in the National Library of Mongolia. 104
