page_title: Buddhism in Mongolia
section_title: Characteristics
hierarchical_section_title: Buddhism in Mongolia / Characteristics
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Berggott, Mongolei. 19. Jahrhundert, Leinwand. Das erhobene Schwert des Berggottes verweist ebenso wie der Köcher mit Pfeilen und der Bogen auf seinen kriegerischen Charakter. Da der Sammler keine Angabgen zum Namen der Gottheit machte, ist die Figur nicht genauer bestimmbar. Weil der Wirkungsbereich dieser Götter geographisch klar festgelegt ist, können sie meist nur von Bewohnern des Gebietes identifiziert werden, über das sie herrschen. Die neun kleinen Darstellungen am oberen Bildrand zeigen Gottheiten und Lamas. Auf diese Weise wird die vorbuddhistische Gottheit in das buddhistische Pantheon eingegliedert.English: Tanka of a mountain deity. Mongolia, 19th century CE.
context_page_description: Buddhism is the largest religion of Mongolia practiced by 53% of Mongolia's population, according to the 2010 Mongolia census. Buddhism in Mongolia derives much of its recent characteristics from Tibetan Buddhism of the Gelug and Kagyu lineages, but is distinct and presents its own unique characteristics.
  Buddhism in Mongolia began with the Yuan dynasty emperors' conversion to Tibetan Buddhism. The Mongols returned to shamanic traditions after the collapse of the Mongol Empire, but Buddhism reemerged in the 16th and 17th centuries.
context_section_description: Buddhism in Mongolia derives many of its recent characteristics from Tibetan Buddhism of the Gelug and Kagyu lineages, but is distinct and presents its own unique characteristics. Traditionally, the Mongolian ethnic religions involved worship of Heaven (the "eternal blue sky") and ancestors and the ancient North Asian practices of shamanism, in which human intermediaries went into trance and spoke to and for some of the numberless infinities of spirits responsible for human luck or misfortune.
caption: Thangka showing a mountain deity carrying a sword
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