Ovoos and stupas “were probably intended to incorporate the substance of Mongolian mountains, through the construction materials, the stones, the location pattern and architectonic shape” ( ibid.
Basically, it seems that the mounds were built with the twofold purpose of being seen and appearing as natural features in the landscape , thereby enhancing their symbolic and visual connection with the mountains” (Dal Zovo 2015, p. 140). Ovoos have a mimetic relationship with the mountain: “the monuments do not break with the natural topography. But ovoo also refers to many mountains themselves, for example the “Golden Mountain” (Mo. Altan Ovoo) of the Dariganga region of south-east Mongolia, in Sühbaatar Province (Madison Pískatá, this issue), or the “Treasure Mountain” (Mo. Erdenetiin Ovoo) between the Selenge and Orhon Rivers in north central Mongolia (Smith 2015 also Charleux, this issue Tamirjavyn 2017a, b ). As Jessica Madison Pískatá writes, the relationship between ovoos and components of ovoos is “a process of accretion (Smith 2015) by which energy, fortune and value are collected, consolidated, and redistributed via a system of intensifying exchange in which the material is collected (as stones, sand, wood, etc.) and the immaterial is redistributed (as fortune, destiny, energy, value, etc.)”.Ħ Travelers in Mongolia are generally introduced to and participate in the process of physically adding stones or objects to “roadside ovoos ”. As also emphasized in a number of contributions to this volume, the act of adding stones is also an act of engagement with the landscape and its denizens, and their proper ordering (see the article by Delaplace and Legrain in this issue for discussion of related practices with this function). For Davaa-Ochir, the act of adding stones symbolizes “the participation of worshippers to the continuous creation of the sanctuary dedicated to the master spirits” (Davaa Ochir 2008, p. 53). As Tim Ingold writes, “unlike the long forgotten object possibly deposited inside it, the mound is still mounding” (Ingold 2010, p. 258). mandal ), they are also never to be completed. According to her, this is because ovoo rituals enact a kind of “closing up and binding in” (Humphrey 1995, p. 148).ĥ While some ovoos are built in architectural, structured, forms with connections to Buddhist stupas (Mo. (Lindskog 2016)Ĥ Conversely, Humphrey suggests a linguistic link between the word ovoo and ovoohoi, which means refuge, or shelter. The “centripetal” (Da Col & Humphrey 2012) ritual process involved during an ovoo offering is manifested through acts wherein “fortune” ( hishig ) is “tied” to objects and receives its force through accumulation, encircling and centering. The word tarah, meaning “to scatter”, can be seen as the antithesis of obooloh, and is associated with loss and dispersal .
Ovooloh means to “heap up” and carries positive connotations linked to central conceptual values among Mongols, that of concentration or centring ( tövlöj ), “containing” ( aguulaj ) and the hierarchical superiority of that which is above ( deed ). The word ovoo means “heap” or “pile” (Evans & Humphrey 2003, p. 196). Finally, the “transitional” qualities of ovoos that we draw attention to in this issue are of interest to specialists and students of ritual, frontier studies, territorial administration, engagement with landscape, and history as accumulation in any region. At the same time, cairns and relationships with mountains are present all over the world and ovoos are an interesting focus for comparative regional analyses. First of all, ovoos are clearly related to Tibetan cairns called lab tse 1, but are also related to stupas and often found among, alongside, and hybridized with, monumental structures including stupas. While this issue focuses on ovoos, which are found ubiquitously on the landscape of Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, Buryatia, Kalmykia, Tuva, and Eastern Tibet/Qinghai, the topic is of interest beyond the field of Mongolian Studies. ezed ) with whom humans are in active relations. On the other hand, the term also often refers to features of height on the landscape, “mountains”, both in the geological sense but in the cosmological one which also includes “masters” ( Mo. As noted by Diemberger (200 (.)Ģ On the one hand, the term ovoo refers to stone or earth heaps, sometimes with a central pole, a tuft, flagpoles or arrows, or tree trunks arranged in conical shape.
1 Written in Tibetan lab tse, lab rtse, lab btsas, la btsas, or la rdzas.
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