Моңғолдың дәстүрлі Наадам фестивалі

Traditional Mongolian festival

Naadam (Mongolian Naadam Festival) (, classical Mongolian: ᠨᠠᠭᠠᠳᠤᠮNaɣadum, , literally "games") is a traditional festival celebrated in Mongolia, Inner Mongolia and Tuva. The festival is also locally termed "eriin gurvan naadam" (эрийн гурван наадам), "the three games of men". The games are Mongolian wrestling, horse racing, and archery, and are held throughout the country during midsummer. Women have started participating in the archery and girls in the horse racing games, but not in Mongolian wrestling. In 2010, Naadam was inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity of UNESCO.

Naadam is the most widely watched festival among Mongols and is believed to have existed for centuries in one fashion or another. It has its origin in the activities, such as military parades and sporting competitions such as archery, horse riding and wrestling, that followed the celebration of various occasions, including weddings or spiritual gatherings. It later served as a way to train soldiers for battle and was also connected to Mongols' nomadic lifestyle. Mongolians practice their unwritten holiday rules that include a long song to start the holiday, then a Biyelgee dance. Traditional cuisine, or Khuushuur, is served around the Sports Stadium along with a special drink made of fermented horse milk (airag). The three games of wrestling, horse racing, and archery are recorded in the 13th century book The Secret History of the Mongols. During the Qing dynasty's rule, Naadam became a festival officially held by sums. It began to be held annually in 1639 with a dance festival dedicated to the High Saint Zanabazar. In this festival of Shireet White Lake, Bokh Lama won in wrestling, and Bonkhor Donir's horse won the championship. In 1772, a great festival was held to worship Khentii mountain. It is called the Festival of Ten Governments. In 1912, the Ten Government Games, which used to be played with losing points, became an annual state game. Until the death of Bogd Khan in 1925, the Ten Government Festival became a state festival. Ten Government Games have been held 125 times.

Naadam during the period of the Mongolian People's Republic was associated with the Mongolian Revolution of 1921. The first official military parade in Communist Mongolia took place in 1921 in honor of the victories of Damdin Sükhbaatar in the revolution. It was celebrated as a Buddhist/shaman holiday until secularization in the 1930s under the Communist influence of the Soviet Union. The anniversary parades of the Mongolian People's Army on Sükhbaatar Square were generally held on jubilee years (specifically in 1946, 1951, 1956, 1961, 1966, 1971, 1976, 1981, 1986 and 1991), alongside the International Workers Day and October Revolution Day parades. General T. Galsan was the longtime commander these parades. During these events, party and government leaders viewed the events from the top of Sükhbaatar's Mausoleum. After 1991, the communist practice was abandoned with the exception of 1996 when a parade in the National Sports Stadium commemorated the 790th anniversary of the founding of Mongolia and the 75th anniversary of the revolution. Many of the celebrations were celebrated with the participation of foreign communists who visited the country, including Mikhail Suslov, Józef Cyrankiewicz, and Władysław Gomułka.

The two largest Naadams held in Mongolia today are the Danshig Naadam and the National Naadam. The former was only instituted as an annual event in 2015, having previously been held irregularly and commemorates Mongolia's independence from the Qing dynasty, and also coincides with Mongolian State Flag Day. The latter formally commemorates the 1921 Revolution a decade later, when communist invaded and deposed Bogd Khan, spillover from the Russian Civil War. Naadam also celebrates the achievements of the new state. Naadam is also celebrated in different regions of Mongolia and Inner Mongolia in July and August. In the Tuva Republic, Naadam is on 15 August. The three sports are called Danshig games. They became the great celebration of the new nation, where the nobility got together to dedicate to the Bogd Khan (Jabzundamba Khutugtu), the new head of state.

Alongside the Danshig Naadam, the biggest festival is the National Naadam Festival, which is held in the Mongolian capital, Ulaanbaatar, during the National Holiday from 11 to 13 July, in the National Sports Stadium. It begins with an elaborate introduction ceremony featuring dancers, athletes, horse riders, and musicians. After the ceremony, the competitions begin. The competitions are mainly horseback riding.

A total of 512 or 1024 wrestlers meet in a single elimination tournament that lasts nine or ten rounds. Mongolian traditional wrestling is an untimed competition in which wrestlers lose if they touch the ground with any part of their body other than their feet or hands. When picking pairs, the wrestler with the greatest fame has the privilege to choose his opponent. Wrestlers wear two piece costumes consisting of a tight shoulder vest (zodog) and shorts (shuudag). Only men are allowed to participate. Each wrestler has an "encourager" called a zasuul. The zasuul sings a song of praise for the winning wrestler after rounds 3, 5, and 7. Winners of the 7th or 8th stage (depending on whether the competition features 512 or 1024 wrestlers) earn the title of zaan, "elephant". The winner of the 9th or 10th stage is called arslan, "lion". In the final competition, all the "zasuuls" drop in the wake of each wrestler as they take steps toward each other. Two time arslans are called the titans / giants, or avraga. Before the races begin, the audience sings traditional songs and the jockeys sing a song called Gingo. Prizes are awarded to horses and jockeys. The top five horses in each class earn the title of and the top three are given gold, silver, and bronze medals. The winning jockey is praised with the title of or leader of ten thousand. The horse that finishes last in the Daaga race (two year old horses race) is called (meaning "full stomach"). A song is sung to the wishing him luck to be next year's winner.