Goal: Talk about religion and tradition.
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On some mornings Saraa goes to Gandan monastery before work, and today I go with her. The sky is pale pink above the roofs, and pigeons fill the square in front of the temples.
In the courtyard, people walk slowly clockwise, turning the prayer wheels as they pass. From one of the halls comes the deep, steady sound of the monks chanting. A young lama sees me hesitating at the door and comes over with a smile.
| Mongolian | English |
|---|---|
| хийд | monastery |
| сүм | temple |
| лам | monk, lama (plural лам нар) |
| хурал | religious service (in a monastery); meeting |
| ном унших | to chant the scriptures (of monks); to read a book |
| мөргөх | to bow, to pray, to worship |
| нар зөв | clockwise (literally "the way the sun goes") |
| хүрд | prayer wheel |
| эргүүлэх | to turn (something round) |
| тарни | mantra, sacred formula |
| зул | butter lamp |
| бурхан | Buddha, god; statue of a deity |
| шашин | religion |
| нураах | to demolish, to pull down |
What people usually do in a monastery is said with the habitual. It describes a custom, not one particular visit:
You know –хад, "when" (lesson 94). Add the reflexive ending –аа and you get –хдаа / –хдоо / –хдээ / –хдөө: "when (one) does it oneself". It is used when the person in the "when" clause is the same as the subject of the sentence.
| Verb | –хдаа form |
|---|---|
| явах | явахдаа |
| орох | орохдоо |
| ирэх | ирэхдээ |
| өгөх | өгөхдөө |
When the two subjects are different, keep the plain –хад form: Лам нар ном уншиж байхад хүмүүс чимээгүй сууна, "while the monks are chanting, people sit quietly".
For people, especially with a title or a profession, the plural is often the separate word нар: лам нар (monks), багш нар (teachers), эмч нар (doctors). Only нар takes the endings: лам нарын хурал (the monks' service), лам нарыг (the monks, as object).
адил (same) takes the comitative: X-тай адил, "the same as X". The lama puts it on a participle: уншсантай адил, "the same as having recited".
Go deeper in the grammar guide: The present: –на, –ж байна, –даг · Clauses built on –х · The plural
Gandan, whose full name is Gandantegchenlin, is the largest and best-known monastery in Mongolia. In the late 1930s almost all the country's monasteries were destroyed and thousands of monks were killed. Gandan was reopened in 1944 and for decades remained almost the only working monastery. Since 1990 religion has been free again, and many temples have been rebuilt. Walk clockwise around temples and stupas, never point your feet at an altar, and ask before you take photographs inside.
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This written course teaches you to read and write. The LIMBA audio course makes you speak: 24 lessons of 12 to 15 minutes, recorded with a native speaker. You listen, you repeat, you answer — the perfect partner for these pages.
Download the Mongolian audio course24 audio lessons · MP3 · yours to keep