Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Project (UR SAR): Recent Episodes
Cambridge University
Today Kalmyks pronounce this holiday in two ways: Ur or Urs Sar. It is celebrated in the first month of summer according to the lunar calendar. In the past, this holiday had less religious significance and clergy, as a rule, sufficed with reading short prayers and blessing livestock. Nomads, however, celebrated it widely by staging a horse race, taming horses and wrestling.
Almost forgotten in the Soviet period, Ur(s) Sar has been revived as a holiday to celebrate the spiritual achievements of the Buddha Shakyamuni, the founder of Buddhism. Hence, during this holiday people try to follow Buddha’s teachings by performing good deeds. The culmination of the month falls on the 15th day, when people celebrate the birth, enlightenment and departure of the Buddha to nirvana.
During the entire holiday Kalmyks put up images of deities and decorate their dwellings with religious banners and leafy branches. Buddhist monks purify the earth and cattle by sprinkling them with a mixture of butter and milk. In their prayers Kalmyks include various Buddhas, Bodhisattvas and a local deity called Tsagan Aav (White Old Man). Besides Buddhist rituals, people also perform pre-Buddhist rites involving sacrifice to the spiritual masters of land and water.
Maria says that during Urs Sar people offer their gods various products including milk, butter and biscuits. If one is far away from home, that person can do a simplified ritual: Milk has to be poured around oneself, whilst butter and biscuits are to be given to animals and birds. During Tsagan Sar Kalmyks make biscuits in various shapes resembling the sun, sheep, birds etc. During Zul people perform a ritual to prolong their lives. Women add a year to their age during Zul, whereas men do so following Zul during the celebration of Zhilin Ezn (Master of the Year).
Olga says that in the past during Urs Sar people cut soil with grass on it and brought it home. One such piece was placed in the shed with cows and another on the stove or near the hearth inside the house. Monks sprinkled libations in four different directions saying that it was meant for the river Manych. Candlewicks were wrapped only with one layer of cotton, because any more layers signified disease.
This video features a ritual of worshipping the land dedicated to the national holiday of Urs Sar in May 2017 which was performed by lamas at the sacred location of Single Poplar Tree situated near the village of Khar-Buluk. The ceremony was opened by Telo Tulku Rinpoche, after which the lamas from the Central Temple in Elista proceeded to chanting prayers. While the lamas were reading prayers, a fire was set alight to purify the land. The laity made circuits of the fire. The worship was concluded by a cultural programme where artists sang songs, played on the dombra and danced.
Lama Batyr talks about how people in his village of Orgakin perform various rituals to appease local deities. He describes three such rituals.
Ubush says that people take vows during Ur Sar. He relays a story of a guy who took a vow to abstain from alcohol, but violated it by drinking beer. He started to have nightmares and went to see a monk. The monk said that he could not help him. That is why people should take responsibility for their actions themselves.
Maria says that historically the Kalmyks celebrated Ur Sar at the end of May or at the beginning of June, a time when spring ends and summer begins. It is also when livestock multiplies. In Kalmyk the word ur has two meanings, (1) a friend, a comrade, and (2) an offspring. Ur Sar is also a religious holiday. Early in the morning the Kalmyks make tea and biscuits and offer them to gods. It is a custom to tie colorful ribbons to trees and make wishes. During Ur Sar people pay visits to each other and hold public competitions (in archery, wrestling and horse racing) across Kalmykia.
Ur Sar coincides with a time when plants grow and the nomads move their livestock to their summer pasture land. In the past, before the Bolshevik Revolution, four animals, including a camel, a horse, a sheep and a cow, were sprinkled with milk. Such animals were considered as sacred and blessed. According to one story, in the 1920s during the Civil War a Kalmyk woman was asked to boil the meat of such a blessed cow. In horror, the woman set about cooking the meat, periodically turning it in the boiling water. At some point the hot soup splashed and a soup droplet got into her eyes leaving her blind.
Garya says that in his childhood people who were fasting celebrated Ur Sar in a special way. Such fasting people, who were usually elderly, prepared a special dish from sour cream, flour, shuurmg, and khyurse, and gave it to children. It was considered that by doing this these people received a blessing. Ur Sar was celebrated in May. Besides private rituals, Ur Sar was celebrated widely by organizing public events. Garya is a member of the Noynakhn tribe which consists of 8 clans. Every year the members of each clan travel to their ancestral land to perform a fire ritual for their ancestors. Garya is himself from the Barun clan whose ancestral land is called Nost. Garya himself was born in Nost. Every year on 2 May Garya with other members of his clan travel to Nost. Once in two to three years they take a Buddhist monk with them to lead the ritual and read prayers. In the absence of a monk, it is the elderly who lead the ritual. The food offered to ancestors consists of what the living eat, including sweets, butter, biscuits etc. In the place of worship, the pilgrims kill a sacrificial sheep by a traditional method of opening its belly and pulling a vein. All food offerings are set on a fire. It is believed that the ancestors hear and see what their descendants do. This ritual pleases the ancestors very much.
Larisa talks about how the Kalmyks celebrated Ur Sar. At the beginning of the month of Ur Sar the Kalmyks did the following. They separated their young sheep from the old ones, castrated the rams, stamped the young sheep and sheared their wool. Towards the end of the month the Kalmyks moved to their summer pasture land. On the first day of the holiday of Ur Sar every family lit candles, made traditional tea, prepared food, and made offerings to their gods, including Tsagan Aav who is considered not only one of the most important but the closest deity for the Kalmyks. It is believed that Tsagan Aav helps herders and protects their livestock. In the past, during the holiday of Ur Sar the Kalmyks decorated an image of Tsagan Aav with flowers and held it among their cattle. They also invited their elders and performed fire rituals. It was also customary for people to throw butter and fat into a fire symbolizing that their family members had plenty and lived in happiness and health. The smoke coming from the butter and fat was believed to feed gods. Following this ritual, all people in the nomadic settlement gathered in an auspicious place, usually at the local temple where monks read prayers for them. Also, four young animals (a cow, a sheep, a horse and a camel) were consecrated by smearing their foreheads with milk, smoking them with incenses and reading prayers for them. This ritual of consecration was also performed on children. During Ur Sar people performed rituals to appease their local spirits that were masters of land and water. A horse race, wrestling, singing and dancing were part of the Ur Sar celebration as well.
Olzyata says that during Ur Sar people pray to gods and ask for various things, including happiness and prosperity for themselves and their relatives, forgiveness if someone committed a sin, health, peace on earth etc. Every family makes Kalmyk tea and prays for their children and ancestral lands. During the holiday it is also customary for astrologists to choose a sheep with a yellow head or yellow ears in order to consecrate it. All the people present at the ritual are supposed to participate in the consecration of the chosen sheep. After this, it is forbidden to disturb this sheep let alone to kill it. In the past, on the 15th day of the month, people also performed fire rituals. Different clans performed this ritual differently. Some killed a sacrificial sheep, others did not. Today people ask Buddhist monks how to perform this ritual. People also performed other rituals as well, such as the one aimed at appeasing the spiritual masters of land and water. During Ur Sar monks read mantras.
In May plants and trees grow. During Ur Sar which is celebrated in May people bless their land. They give fire offerings to their ancestors so that everyone lives happily. Kalmyk well-wishes uttered during Ur Sar include the following lines: May your land be blessed May your home be a palace May people who live on this land be wealthy and numerous.
Ur Sar is celebrated when spring ends and summer begins. The celebration includes singing, dancing and various competitions, such as wrestling, horse racing, and catching horses with a pole. Ur Sar is also celebrated at home, but not as widely. This celebration is mentioned in Kalmyk heroic legends.