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Earlier I posted about the statues of  the first    First Sixteen Incarnations of Javzandamba  on display in the Larivan Temple at Erdene Zuu, in Kharkhorin, Övörkhangai Aimag. The sixteenth incarnation was of course  Taranatha , who was born in Tibet and died in Mongolia.  16. Жонан Дарната Jonan Darnata (Taranatha) statue at Erdene Zuu Tibetan thangka of Taranatha This spectacular late nineteenth century thangka of Yamantaka (it measures over seven feet in length) was just recently unearthed in the archives of the Bogd Khaan Winter Palace Museum , a vast repository of materials many of which have never been put on public display before or even catalogued. The first twenty-four incarnations of Javzandamba are depicted at the top of the thangka.  Taranatha on the Yamantaka thangka above The next nine incarnations (17 through 25) served as the Bogd Gegeens of Mongolia. The first was of course Zanabazar .  17. 1 Богд Занабазар (1635-1723) Zanabaza...

The Fifth of the Nine-Nines—nine periods of nine days each, each period marked by some description of winter weather—began on January 27. This is Tavisan Budaa Khöldökhgui , the time when “Cooked Rice Cannot Be Frozen.” I must admit I really don’t understand the definition of this period. It seems to me that cooked rice would be frozen at any temperature below freezing, and we can certainly expect colder temperatures than that during the last week of January and beginning of February. Anyhow, the Fourth of the Nine-Nines was supposed to be coldest of the Nine-Nines, but this year the Fifth might well turn out to be colder. I have blogged in the past about the Magical Moment when 40 below zero are the same on the Fahreinheit and Celsius scales. The last few days we have been having a Magic Moment every morning. This morning it dropped down to a frosty 45 below 0º F. Some old Gray Beards I spoke with at the Bogd Khaan Winter Palace Museum yesterday assured me that this wo...

Update : 40º below 0 F. at 8:00 am on Thursday the 19th and calling for 47º below 0º F. tonight. So the Fourth of the Nine-Nines is living up to its reputation as the coldest of the nine nine-day periods of winter weather. The Fourth of the Nine-Nines, known as  Dönön Ükhiin Ever Khöldöne —Time When Four Year-Old Cows’ Horns Freeze—begins today, January 18. This is supposed to be the coldest of the Nine-Nines, nine periods of nine days each, each period marked by some description of winter weather. It was 20 below F. (–29º C. for you unrepentant Celsius freaks) at 10:00 am, not especially cold for  This Time Of The Year . But the forecast for this week is for much, much colder weather, maybe even record-setting. Stay tuned . . . 

As we have seen, the Khorezmshah spent almost a month Carousing with the Songstresses and Damels of Nishapur. These bacchanalias ended when word arrived that the Mongol pursuit party which had been sent to bring the Khorezmshah to heel was on the way.  The Mongol commanders Jebe and Sübetei and their 30,000 men arrived at the walls of Nishapur in early June, after the Khorezmshah had already fled.  They immediately sent an envoy into the city to met with local officials and demand food and other supplies. Three local envoys then came out to met Jebe and proffer gifts and provisions. They made an outward show of submission, but Jebe was not satisfied.  He harangued them about the futility of any further resistance and to reenforce his point he presented to the town fathers a copy of a decree in Uighur script from Chingis Khan, apparently stamped with his own seal,  which stated: Whosover . . . shall submit, mercy will be shown to them and unto his wives and children ...

The Third of The Nine-Nines began on January 9, which was also a monumental Full Moon Day.  Gurvan Ükhrii Ever Khöldönö  is the nine-day period of Winter when the horns of three year-old cows freeze. This period is supposed to be colder than the  First of the Nine Nines  and the  Second of the Nine Nines .  At 7:30 this morning it was 26 below 0º F, about normal for this time of the year.  Tsagaan Sar , the Mongolian Lunar New Year, is coming up with the New Moon on February 22. The coming year is, of course, the Year of the Male Water Dragon, which is the 26th year of the 17th Rabjung, or 60-Year Cycle, according to the Tibeto-Mongolian Calendar.