Louisa Lim's final report in NPR's series on Mongolia covers the legendary Naadam.
Naadam is a festival of three competitions, celebrating Mongolia's ancient warrior tradition: Horse Racing, Archery, and Wrestling. For 8 centuries these competitions have taken place annually in every town across the steppe.
The Horse Racing is performed exclusively by small children who are the lightest jockeys and make for the fastest horses. The adults follow along in vehicles, shouting encouragement to the racers at 50mph and scrambling to meet them at the finish line and capture some of the dust or sweat from the winning horse... a sure symbol of good luck. The horse represents the height of Mongol conquest, enabling Genghis Khan to amass the largest empire ever.
Originating as a military training exercise, the Naadam also features Archery and Wrestling competitions, in which the adults participate. Well... the men anyway. The men have instituted a bare chested wrestling uniform to ensure women do not compete in that event (and potentially suffer the men the embarrassment of losing to a girl, as legend has it).
Naadam is a festival of three competitions, celebrating Mongolia's ancient warrior tradition: Horse Racing, Archery, and Wrestling. For 8 centuries these competitions have taken place annually in every town across the steppe.
The Horse Racing is performed exclusively by small children who are the lightest jockeys and make for the fastest horses. The adults follow along in vehicles, shouting encouragement to the racers at 50mph and scrambling to meet them at the finish line and capture some of the dust or sweat from the winning horse... a sure symbol of good luck. The horse represents the height of Mongol conquest, enabling Genghis Khan to amass the largest empire ever.
Originating as a military training exercise, the Naadam also features Archery and Wrestling competitions, in which the adults participate. Well... the men anyway. The men have instituted a bare chested wrestling uniform to ensure women do not compete in that event (and potentially suffer the men the embarrassment of losing to a girl, as legend has it).
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