religion in Mongolia

{{main|Buddhism in Mongolia}}

Buddhism in Mongolia began with the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368) emperors' conversion to Tibetan Buddhism. The Mongols returned to indigenous shamanic traditions after the collapse of the Mongol Empire, but Buddhism reemerged in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. During the communist Mongolian People's Republic (1924–1992), Buddhism was suppressed with an estimated 17,000 monks being killed under the regime, official figures show.{{cite news |last=Thomas |first=Natalie |date=2018-06-04 |title=Young monks lead revival of Buddhism in Mongolia after years of repression. |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-mongolia-monks-idUKKCN1J104O |work=Reuters. |access-date=2023-07-06}} After the collapse of communism in the 1990s, there has been a resurgence of Buddhism in the country, both within the fold of the traditional monastic institution and through the spread of New Age-inspired and monotheism-inspired new religious movements of Buddhism.{{sfn|Abrahms-Kavunenko|2012|p=292}} According to the 2020 census of Mongolia, 51.7% of the population, that is 1,704,480 people, are adherents of Buddhism.

File:Dashchoilin Monastery in Ulan Bator (1).jpg|Yurt pavilion of Dashchoilin Monastery in Ulaanbaatar, example of aboriginal Mongolian architecture.

File:Пунцоглин.JPG|Puntsoglin Monastery, an example of Sino-Tibetan-influenced Mongolian architecture.

File:Buddhist nunnery in Mongolia.jpg|Dulmalin Nunnery, a nunnery (female monastery) in Ulaanbaatar, and another example of Sino-Tibetan architecture.

File:Stupa of Dambadarjaalin Monastery in Ulan Bator.jpg|Stupa of Dambadarjaalin Monastery in Ulaanbaatar.

File:Tuvdenpeljeelin.JPG|Tuvdenpeljeelin Temple, a modern temple of Mongolian Buddhist astrology in Ulaanbaatar.

File:Shaduvlin FPMT Centre.jpg|Shaduvlin Temple, a modern temple of the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition.

{{main|Mongolian shamanism}}

Mongolian shamanism, more broadly called the Mongolian folk religion, or occasionally Tengrism, refers to the animistic and shamanic ethnic religion that has been practiced by the Mongols at least since the age of recorded history. The Mongolian name of the practice is Böö mörgöl (Бөө мөргөл). In the earliest known stages it was tied to all other aspects of social life and to the tribal organization of Mongolian society. When the Mongols adopted Buddhism, Mongolian shamanism was influenced and merged with the new religion. During the communist republic of the twentieth century it was heavily repressed, but after the fall of communism it was revived. According to the 2020 census, 2.5% of the population of Mongolia, that is 82,422 people, declare that they are shamans.

Mongolian shamanism is centered on the worship of the tngri (gods) and the highest Tenger ("Heaven", "God of Heaven", or "God"), also called Qormusta Tengri. In the Mongolian folk religion, Genghis Khan is considered one of the embodiments, if not the main embodiment, of the supreme God. The Mausoleum of Genghis Khan in Ordos City, in Inner Mongolia, is an important center of this tradition.

Yellow shamanism is the term used to designate the particular version of Mongolian shamanism which adopts the expressive style of Buddhism. "Yellow" indicates Buddhism in Mongolian culture, since most Buddhists there belong to what is called the Gelug or "Yellow sect" of Tibetan Buddhism, whose members wear yellow hats while performing rituals. The term also serves to distinguish it from a form of shamanism not influenced by Buddhism, called black shamanism.

File:MongolianShamanism (18).jpg|Yurt-shaped shamanic temple in Ulaanbaatar.

File:MongolianShamanism (5).jpg|Interior of a shamanic temple in Ulaanbaatar.

File:Mongol Shaman just before rituals..jpg|Shamans preparing themselves to perform a rite at the Blue Pearl Festival at Lake Khövsgöl, in Khövsgöl Province.

File:Mongolian Shaman performing Fire Ritual Customs to worship Khovgol lake..jpg|Shaman performing a fire ritual at Lake Khövsgöl.

File:Mongolian shamanic ovoo above Dambadarjaalin Monastery in Ulan Bator.jpg|An ovoo on the sacred mount above Dambadarjaalin Monastery in Ulaanbaatar.

File:Mongol shamanic temple (2).jpg|Shamanic temple on Chingeltei Uul, near Ulaanbaatar.

File:Dörgön Nuur lake, West Mongolia, Khovd aimag, ovoo at the southern shore.JPG|Janjin Ovoo at the southern shore of Dörgön Lake, in Govi-Altai Province.

{{main|Islam in Mongolia}}

Islam in Mongolia is the religion of 105,500 people as of the 2020 census, corresponding to 3.2% of the population. It is mostly the religion of the Kazakh ethnic minority residing in the areas of Bayan-Ölgii Province and Khovd Province in western Mongolia. However, Kazakh communities may be found in cities and towns throughout all Mongolia.

File:Bulgan mosque, Bayan-Ölgii province, Mongolia.JPG|Mosque in Bulgan, Bayan-Ölgii Province, a province inhabited predominantly by Kazakh Muslims

File:Ölgii Mosque.jpg|Mosque in Ölgii, Bayan-Ölgii

File:Nalaikh Mosque.jpg|Mosque in Nalaikh, Ulaanbaatar

File:Darkhan-Uul Cultural Center and Mosque.jpg|Mosque in Darkhan, Darkhan-Uul

{{main|Christianity in Mongolia}}

Christianity in Mongolia is the religion of 42,859 people according to the 2020 census, corresponding to 1.3% of the population. Christians in Mongolia include Protestants, Catholics, Orthodox Christians, and Mormons of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

File:ZuunmodChurch.jpg|Protestant church in Zuunmod, Töv Province.

File:Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral Ulaanbaatar.jpg|Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral in Ulaanbaatar, see of the Apostolic Prefecture of Ulaanbaatar of the Catholic Church.

File:Mongolia, Sukhbaatar, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.jpg|Mormon meetinghouse in Sükhbaatar, Selenge Province.

{{main|Bahá'í Faith in Mongolia|Hinduism in Mongolia}}

The 2020 census counted 23,078 people who were adherents of religions other than Buddhism, Mongolian shamanism, Islam or Christianity, corresponding to 0.7% of the total population of the country.

The Bahá'í Faith was introduced in Mongolia only in the 1980s and 1990s, as prior to that point the communist ideology suppressed religions and impeded the spread of new ones. The first Bahá'í arrived in Mongolia in 1988, and founded a community of believers, later establishing a Bahá'í Local Spiritual Assembly. In 1994, the Bahá'ís elected their first National Spiritual Assembly.

Hinduism too has spread into Mongolia in the 1990s, after the collapse of the communist republic. The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (Hare Krishna) and Patanjali Yogpeeth have established themselves in Mongolia; at the same time some Mongolian Buddhists have incorporated Hindu concepts and techniques into their Buddhist religion.{{sfn|Abrahms-Kavunenko|2012|p=292}}

• Religion in Inner Mongolia
• Religion in China

{{reflist|2}}

{{commons category}}

• {{cite journal |last1=Abrahms-Kavunenko |first1=Saskia |title=Religious 'Revival' After Socialism? Eclecticism and Globalisation Amongst Lay Buddhists in Ulaanbaatar |journal=Inner Asia |date=1 January 2012 |volume=14 |issue=2 |pages=279–297 |doi=10.1163/22105018-90000005 |jstor=24572065 }}
• {{cite encyclopedia|last=Abrahms-Kavunenko|first=Saskia|title=Mongolian Buddhism in the Democratic Period|encyclopedia=Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Religion|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2019|isbn=9780199340378|doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.013.618}}
• {{cite journal|last=Atwood|first=Christopher P.|title=Buddhism and Popular Ritual in Mongolian Religion: A Reexamination of the Fire Cult|journal=History of Religions|publisher=University of Chicago Press|year=1996|volume=36|issue=2|pages=112–139|doi=10.1086/463455|s2cid=162394887|url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/225167994.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201115162512/https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/225167994.pdf|archive-date=15 November 2020}}
• {{cite journal|last=Balogh|first=Matyas|title=Contemporary shamanisms in Mongolia|journal=Asian Ethnicity|year=2010|volume=11|issue=2|pages=229–238|doi=10.1080/14631361003779489|s2cid=145595446}}
• {{cite journal|last=Bumochir|first=D.|title=Institutionalization of Mongolian shamanism: from primitivism to civilization|journal=Asian Ethnicity|year=2014|volume=15|issue=4|pages=473–491|doi=10.1080/14631369.2014.939331|s2cid=145329835}}
• {{cite journal|last=Charleux|first=Isabelle|title=Chinggis Khan: Ancestor, Buddha or Shaman?|journal=Mongolian Studies|publisher=Mongolia Society|year=2008|volume=30/31|issue=4|pages=207–258|jstor=43193542|url=https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-00613828/document|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200226161302/https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-00613828/document|archive-date=26 February 2020}}
• {{cite journal|last=Dashkovskiy|first=Petr|title=Ethnic and Religious Processes in Western Mongolia (Based on Social Research)|journal=Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences|year=2015|volume=185|pages=109–116|doi=10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.03.422|doi-access=free}}
• {{cite book|last=Heissig|first=Walther|author-link=Walther Heissig|title=The Religions of Mongolia|translator=Geoffrey Samuel|location=London; Henley|publisher=Routledge; Kegan Paul|year=1980|orig-year=1970|isbn=978-0520038578}}
• {{cite journal|last=Hesse|first=Klaus|year=1986|title=A Note on the Transformation of White, Black and Yellow Shamanism in the History of the Mongols|journal=Studies in History|volume=2|issue=1|pages=17–30|doi=10.1177/025764308600200102|s2cid=162239153}}
• {{cite book|last=Kollmar-Paulenz|first=Karénina|chapter=Of Yellow Teaching and Black Faith: Entangled Knowledge Cultures and the Creation of Religious Traditions|title=Dynamics of Religion. Past and Present|publisher=De Gruyter|year=2017|editor-last1=Bochinger|editor-first1=Christoph|editor-last2=Rüpke|editor-first2=Jörg|pages=231–250|doi=10.1515/9783110450934-013|isbn=9783110450927|chapter-url=https://boris.unibe.ch/96647/1/%5B9783110450934%20-%20Dynamics%20of%20Religion%5D%20Of%20Yellow%20Teaching%20and%20Black%20Faith_%20Entangled%20Knowledge%20Cultures%20and%20the%20Creation%20of%20Religious%20Traditions-1.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200218233523/https://boris.unibe.ch/96647/1/%5B9783110450934%20-%20Dynamics%20of%20Religion%5D%20Of%20Yellow%20Teaching%20and%20Black%20Faith_%20Entangled%20Knowledge%20Cultures%20and%20the%20Creation%20of%20Religious%20Traditions-1.pdf|archive-date=18 February 2020}}
• {{cite book|last=Man|first= John|year=2004|title=Genghis Khan: Life, Death and Resurrection|location=London, England|publisher=Bantam Press|isbn=9780553814989}}
• {{cite conference|last=Schlehe|first=Judith|editor-last=Rasuly-Paleczek|editor-first=Gabriele|title=Shamanism in Mongolia and in New Age Movements|book-title=Central Asia on Display: Proceedings of the VIIth Conference of the European Society for Central Asian Studies|location=Vienna|publisher=Lit Verlag|year=2004|volume=1|pages=283–296|isbn=3825883094}}
• {{cite journal|last=Rinchen|first=Yönsiyebü|title=White, Black and Yellow Shamans Among the Mongols|journal= Ultimate Reality and Meaning|year=1981|volume=4|issue=2|pages=94–102|doi=10.3138/uram.4.2.94|url=https://utpjournals.press/doi/pdf/10.3138/uram.4.2.94|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111012709/https://utpjournals.press/doi/pdf/10.3138/uram.4.2.94|archive-date=11 November 2020|doi-access=free|url-access=subscription}}
• {{cite encyclopedia|last=Shimamura|first=Ippei|author-link=Ippei Shimamura|title=Yellow Shamans (Mongolia)|encyclopedia=Shamanism: An Encyclopedia of World Beliefs, Practices, and Culture|volume=1|editor-first1=Mariko Namba|editor-last1=Walter|editor-first2=Eva Jane|editor-last2=Neumann Fridman|publisher=ABC-CLIO|year=2004|isbn=9781576076453|pages=649–651}}
• {{cite book|last=Turner|first=Kevin B.|title=Sky Shamans of Mongolia: Meetings with Remarkable Healers|year=2016|location=Berkeley, California|publisher=North Atlantic Books|isbn=9781583946343}}
• {{cite book|editor-last=Wallace|editor-first=Vesna A.|title=Buddhism in Mongolian History, Culture, and Society|year=2015|location=New York|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0199958665}}

{{Asia topic|Religion in|PS=Palestinian territories#Religion}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Religion In Mongolia}}