Weekend festival offers taste of Mongolia

Traditional and contemporary Mongolian music, traditional wrestling, contortionists, religious talks, food and various arts and crafts will be part of the Mongolian Festival Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Hosted by the Tibetan Culture Center, the festival will take place during the same weekend as the Lotus Festival, which TCC Director Jigme Norbu hopes will increase Mongolian Festival attendance.\n"The events here are during the day, and Lotus is at night," Norbu said. "We hope to share some of the same crowd."\nThis event is the second in the Annual World Harmony Series that was initiated last year when His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama dedicated the Chamtse Ling Interfaith Temple in Bloomington.\n"Mongolia and Tibet have a shared history," said Norbu, who is the nephew of the Dalai Lama. "It was the Mongolians who bestowed the name Dalai Lama. So it is a natural thing to hold this event."\nJigme Norbu's father, Thubten J. Norbu, the president and founder of TCC, is fluent in Mongolian, and the majority of Mongolians are Tibetan Buddhists who recognize the Dalai Lama as their religious leader.\nThubten explained the idea for this festival arose last September during the Dalai Lama's visit to Bloomington. Since then, the biggest challenge has been organizing visas and other necessities for 11 foreign artists. \n"We wanted to bring the Mongolian culture to the west. What better place than Bloomington?" said Thubten Norbu, the Dalai Lama's brother.\nEvents on both Saturday and Sunday will highlight Mongolian culture. Musical performers from Mongolia and Tibet will be entertaining the crowd and contortionists will also perform Saturday. \n"These singers coming are the most popular in Mongolia," said Susie Drost of the Mongolia Society. "The throat singer is award-winning and very popular in Mongolia. It is very exciting that we have these people here."\nThroat singing is indigenous to the Taiga forests of Tuva and the Mongolian plains, according to Scientific American magazine's Web site. It is a singing technique in which a single vocalist can produce two tones: one low and sustained and the second a series of flutelike harmonics that resonate high above the drone and may be musically stylized to represent various sounds like the chirping of birds, water falls or the cantering of a horse.\nThe highlight of Sunday will be the Mongolian wrestling match. Grand Champion Mongolian wrestler Sukhbat Garid "Phoenix" Gantogtokh will be competing against other wrestlers from 10:15 a.m. to 2 p.m.\nDrost has helped with organizing the event and worked with the Mongolian Artists Union to bring arts and crafts items. The items of museum quality will be displayed at two exhibits in the Indiana Memorial Union Gallery and the Mathers Museum. Some of the imported items also will be for sale at the festival. \n"There are a number of items coming in that are of Kavak design, which are always unique." Drost said.\nAt noon Friday, Mayor Mark Kruzan will be bestowing an encomium to Thubten Norbu. Lisa Morrison, the publicity representative for the Mongolian Festival, said this is the highest award a mayor can bestow upon a civilian. The award is recognition for his life's commitment to peace, developing the TCC and the building of Chamtse Ling. \nJohn Mellencamp and wife Elaine are expected to be in attendance for the ceremony.\n-- Contact staff writer Maurina Paradise at paradise@indiana.edu.