Mongolia | Khentii Aimag | Burkhan Khaldun Khora

Inspired by the khora, or circumambulation, of Mount Kailash in Tibet, which I made in the Year of the Horse 2002, I decided to do a khora around 7,749-foot Burkhan Khaldun (also known as Khentii Khaan Uul), the mountain in Khentii Aimag worshipped by Chingis Khan and now perhaps the most important site of the present-day Chingis Cult. Making a clock-wise circuit around sanctified mountains, temples, ovoos, and other holy objects is a common practice in Tibeto-Mongolian Buddhism, but I must point out that doing a khora of Burkhan Khaldun is, to my knowledge, not a traditional Mongolian practice. When I discussed this subject with a herdsman from the upper Kherlen River Valley, a man in his late sixties named Zevgee, he allowed that he had always wanted to make a pilgrimage to Tibet and do the Mount Kailash Khora, but at his age he seriously doubted if he would ever have the chance. He was quite intrigued, however, by the idea of doing a Burkhan Khaldun khora, even if it was not a traditional activity. If he could not do a khora around Mount Kailash he would like to attempt one around Burkhan Khaldun.

Mt. Kailash in western Tibet

I had walked around Mt. Kailash, a distance of some thirty miles, in two and a half days, but since walking is of course not a traditional mode of travel in Mongolia I did the Burkhan Khaldun Khora on horseback. Zevgee provided the horses, and from Zevgee’s ger on the Terelj River (a tributary of the Kherlen, not to be confused with the better known Terelj River north of Ulaan Baatar) we proceeded up the west bank of the Kherlen River, soon passing by 7,556-foot Erdene Uul, which has been identified by Mongolian researchers D. Bazargür and D. Enkhbayar as one of the three Burkhan Khalduns in the Khentii Mountains. The other two are Khentii Khaan Uul, the mountain we would do the khora around, and 9,186-foot Asralt Khairkhan, the highest peak in the Khentii Range. It was on Erdene Uul, according to these researchers, that Temüjin (Chingis Khan) hid from the Merkits after they had kidnapped his wife Börte, one of the crucial incidents in Temüjin’s early life.

Entering Chingis Country in the Kherlen Valley
Valley of the Kherlen River

We continued up the west bank of the Kherlen to its confluence with the Shiregt Gol, then up the Shiregt valley, camping that night in the upper reaches of the river. The next day we crossed Baga Davaa (Little Pass), which marks the real beginning of the khora. Here we stopped while Zevgee made offerings of burnt artz, incense made from a species of dwarf juniper. He would repeat these offerings at all the passes we crossed and on the summit of Burkhan Khaldun itself as a way of sanctifying our khora. Dropping down from Baga Davaa to the Elüür River we got our first view of the black-crowned top of Burkhan Khaldun looming up straight ahead. We followed the Elüür to near its headwaters, all the while keeping Burkhan Khaldun to our right, then crossed 5,843-foot Ikh Davaa (Big Pass), between the Kherlen and Onon River watersheds, and dropped down to Davaa Creek, which we followed to its confluence with Tsonj Chuluu Creek. We camped near where Tsonj Chuluu Creek and Öngöljin Creek combine to form the Onon River. This is the beginning of the Onon-Shilka-Amur river system, which according to the National Geographic Atlas of the World measures 2,738 miles in length and ranks as the ninth longest river system in the world.

The trail to Onon Hot Springs
Onon Hot Springs

The next day we rode down the Onon River valley to Onon Hot Springs (N48º57.240' – E109º00.668'). Also known as Khaluun Usny Rashaan (Hot Water Mineral Springs), the hot springs complex is the half-way point on the khora, and travelers may want to spend an entire day here enjoying the anodyne waters. Here are at least fourteen different mineral springs, some of them with boiling-hot water, and several bathhouses. Two of the larger springs, both enclosed by bathhouses, are called Ikh Tsenkher and Baga Tsenkher (“Big Blue” and “Little Blue”), names reportedly given to them by Zanabazar (1635–1723), the First Bogd Gegeen of Mongolia, who visited the springs many times and studied their medicinal properties. The springs are famous for treating diseases and afflictions of the lower body: knees (mud packs taken from near the springs are especially good for knee joints), lower back pain, kidney and liver problems, and also rheumatism and sore muscles in general. There is also a large log cabin nearby which serves as a guest house, as well as a small Buddhist temple made from logs. (For more on Onon Hotsprings see Guide to Locales Connected with the Life of Zanabazar.)

Bathing pools at Onon Hot Springs

A good horse trail runs the whole way to Onon Hot Springs, but to continue on the khora from here requires some serious bushwhacking through thick stands of willows, swamps, boulder fields, and thick larch forests with lots of down timber. Crossing the Onon River and heading up an unnamed creek valley, we eventually camped for the night at N48º44.119' – E109º02.643', with the massif of Burkhan Khaldun looming up directly in front of us, although the black-crowned summit was not visible from this vantage point. The next day we followed another small creek to 6,743-foot Ikh Gazriyn Davaa, just east of Burkhan Khaldun at N48.47.215' – E109º03.616'.

Ikh Gazriyn Davaa

Then we dropped down to the Bogdyn Gol and followed this creek downstream to an informal campground at N48º44.119' – E109º02.643', right at the base of Burkhan Khaldun. This campground is on the site of a temple reportedly built by Zanabazar, for pilgrims coming to Burkhan Khaldun. According to local informants it was destroyed in the late 1680s by Zanabazar’s arch nemesis, Galdan Bolshigt, during the war between the Khalkh (Eastern) Mongols and the Zungarian (Western) Mongols. Today nothing whatsoever remains of the temple; only a wooden post draped with prayer flags marks the place where the temple was said to have been.

As noted, the temple had originally been built for the use of Buddhist pilgrims who came to Burkhan Khaldun. As far back as the thirteenth century Chingis Khan had been recognized as an emanation of the Buddhist deity Vajrapani. According to the lama Choiji Odser (1550-1321):

Many eons ago, among the innumerable Buddhas, the bodhisattva Vajrapani made a powerful prayer to be born in Mongolia and to spread the Holy Dharma around the world. By the power of his mighty prayer he took birth as the great Temüjin on the shore of the Onon River, with the purpose of pacifying the world. Later he became famed as Chingis Khan. He went on to fearlessly tame arrogant beings, and to disseminate the enlightenment way.

By Zanabazar’s time in the seventeenth century Chingis Khan was firmly ensconced in the Buddhist pantheon and many Buddhists made the pilgrimage to the mountain. Shamans also may have continued to worship on the mountain, although there is little documented record of this.

According to tradition, women were not allowed to ascend Burkhan Khaldun. Instead, they visited the temple at the base of the mountain and then went to the shores of nearby Talkhit Lake and took refreshments there while the men went to the summit. This prohibition against women going to the summit is somewhat relaxed today, although some Mongolian women still refuse to make the ascent. Zevgee’s wife, a woman in her sixties, got a special dispensation from a local lama allowing her to make the ascent. She had lived in the area most of her life but had never before gone to the summit.

Ladies resting at Talkhit Nuur

The trail to the summit of 7,749-foot Burkhan Khaldun begins at the campgrounds, with an elevation gain of about 2,175 vertical feet. The first part, climbing up the ramparts bordering the valley of the Bogdyn Gol, is quite steep in places. Part way up this steep section is a flat bench where Zanabazar had built another temple to be used by pilgrims. Here they stopped, made offerings, and refreshed themselves with tea before continuing on up the mountain.

Ovoo at ruins of temple built by Zanabazar

This temple was later destroyed, according to local informants, not by Galdan Bolshigt but by iconoclastic communists in the late 1930s. Broken bricks and roof tiles can still be found scattered in the underbrush. The site of the temple is now marked by a huge brush ovoo at the foot of which are bricks of tea, dairy products, currency and coins, and other offerings made by present day pilgrims. A huge metal pot at the site is said to have belonged to the now-destroyed temple.

The ridgeline leading to Burkhan Khaldun

After ascending the steep ramparts the trail continues on across a treeless ridge to the black-crowned summit of the mountain. At the top of this crown is a large ovoo. This is where, according to tradition, Chingis Khan came to pray for guidance before launching his great military campaigns. Here he beseeched Tenger, the Eternal Blue Heaven, for guidance. According to tradition, in 1211, before he began his campaign against the Chin Dynasty in China, Chingis climbed to the top of Burkhan Khaldun and here, “his belt hanging around his neck, communed with the Eternal Heaven.” He spent three days and nights meditating and on the morning of the fourth day descended, proclaiming, “Heaven has prepared for me victory. Now we must prepare ourselves to take vengeance . . . .”

The summit of Burkhan Khaldun

Today Burkhan Khaldun is one of three sacred mountains officially recognized by the Mongolian Government, the others being Bogd Khan Uul south of Ulaan Baatar and Otgon Tenger in Zavkhan Aimag, the highest peak in the Khangai Mountains. Once every four years the President of Mongolia , accompanied by a large retinue of officials and lamas, comes here by horse to make offerings. Each year lamas ascend the mountain to perform ceremonies, accompanied sometimes by hundreds of people. Shamans also reportedly hold ceremonies on the mountain.

The campgrounds at the base of the mountain can be reached by all-terrain vehicle via the road up the Kherlen Valley from Möngönmort if there have to been no recent rains and the road is dry. Thus it is possible end the horse-part of the khora here if previous arrangements to be picked up have been made. We continued by horse down the valley of the Bogdyn to its confluence with the Kherlen and then followed the dirt track on the west side of the Kherlen River back down to the mouth of the Shiregt River, thus completely circling Burkhan Khaldun and completing our khora. In this way we hope that we paid our respects to the spirit of Chingis Khan.

From our starting point at Zevgee’s ger on the Terelj River we rode a total of 109 miles, measured between thirty-five checkpoints. Since this included backtracking down the Kherlen to the Terelj River the actual distance of the khora around the mountain, by the route we took, was probably about 80 miles. This we did in seven days, including one rest day at Onon Hot Springs.

For more on Burkhan Khaldun see Guide to Locales Connected with the Life of Zanabazar and Travels in Northern Mongolia. The logistical details of the khora were handled by Urnaa and Terbish at Great Genghis Expeditions.