MOUNT ALTAN ÖVÖO

Altan Övöo is an extinct volcano considered sacred by the locals. It was proclaimed a "sacred place" by the last Bogd Khan in 1913 during a ceremony that attracted Mongolians from all over the country. Since 2004, it has had the status of "state sacred mountain", like 9 other mountains classified by presidential decree.

Every 4 years, state "sacrifice" ceremonies(tahilga) are organized to venerate the Altan Övöo mountain, with the participation of the Mongolian president himself. During the ceremony, a horse is chosen as an offering: a blue scarf is placed around its neck, symbolizing that it now belongs to nature and the mountain spirits, and can therefore never be ridden again. Rituals also include wrestling tournaments and horse races. Very important in the country, the traditional Mongolian practices of venerating sacred sites were classified on the list of intangible cultural heritage of humanity by Unesco in 2017.

In 2018, the Altan Övöo state ceremony marked the ^105th anniversary of the worship of the Altan Övöo mountain since the Bogd Khan declared it a sacred place.

At the summit of Altan Övöo, a new stupa was erected in 1990 to replace another built in 1820 and destroyed in 1937. There are also three man-stones on its slopes. Christened "the khan, the queen and their son", these three statues are carved from marble, a rarity in Mongolia. There are some sixty man-stones (or balbal) in the region.