Hello everyone, and welcome to another episode! Since this episode was released with the episode on Kasper Sierslev, I will keep this introduction, pretty short. On this episode, we talk about the oldest National Park in the World, Bogd Khan Uul National Park, located just outside of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. We start this episode off with discussing the difference between forest reserves and national parks, then dive into the heavy details of the park and Manzushire Monastery. Including how it was affected during the Stalin purges or Great Purges of the 1930s. All this and more on this weeks episode.
TRANSCRIPT BEGINS:
It’s time for Architecture, Coffee, & Ink.
20 second Intro song
Hello, this is Hollywood C. and you’re listening to Architecture, Coffee, &, Ink. A podcast dedicated to introducing concepts, detailing out designs, and tackling the architecture you might not realize the meaning behind. I’m your hostess and I am here today to start introducing you to the designs that make you wonder why.
tag line: So, I ask you to brew your coffee, grab your sketch book and pen, and let’s begin.
Hello and welcome to another episode! I am so excited to talk about the Oldest Park in the World! And it is not the one you are thinking of! Of course, if you have read the episode description first, you know that we are talking about Bogd Khan Uul National Park, in Mongolia. Before we dive into the episode, just remember as always to always check your sources, check your facts, and most importantly, check me, I should never be your only source of information. This episode is going to be another episode, where I will need to apologize in advance for mispronouncing words. I promise I will try my best to be as true to the correct pronunciation as possible and mean no disrespect for any mistakes I make. This podcast is dedicated to celebrating all of the people and cultures we discuss.
Now, let’s dive into the topic, by clearing up a misconception. Normally, when you preface a conversation saying that you are going to be talking about the oldest national park in the world, the first park most people think of in the Western Hemisphere is Yellowstone National Park in the United States. However, Bogd Khan National Park actually beats it by over 100 years. And another forest reserve, Trinidad and Tobago’s Main Ridge Forest Reserve, actually is even older by 2 years, however, it is a forest reserve and not a national park. So, what is the distinction between a forest reserve and a national park, and what qualifies a location as one or the other? And why is any of this even important to us?
The answer is that while it varies a lot on the local governments for the exact wording and specifics, overall, a reserve or a nature reserve is a designated space that is focused on having a mission for preservation and protection of the flora and fauna within its borders. To put it in simpler terms, the mission is to protect the plants and animals within the park. However, how those natural resources are used or protected, are the sole mission, and can be either publicly or privately owned. A National Park, by definition, can also focus on a mission of preservation, but it has to be public, normally for public recreation, and has what I would consider a cultural/social element. Whether that’s just to provide recreation, preserve a cultural site, or foster a relationship between the local public and natural world, can vary from location to location. A national park can be a nature reserve as well, however, being a nature reserve doesn’t automatically mean it’s a national park. Now in the US, we have a specific style of architecture associated with National Parks, called National Park Service Rustic or “Parkitecture”, which we will cover in more detail in an episode on Yellowstone in March, because honestly, that’s a whole design field in and of itself. That as well as the whole Yosemite was technically a state park before Yellowstone, but Yellowstone is the first national park, it’s a whole mess, and I love it.
Anyway, back to the main topic, everyone should double check their own countries regulations for particulars about the classifications between a national and state, and preserve, as it does vary a little bit between countries and territories. According to BBVA OpenMind, 15% of the land and 7.45% of the oceans on earth are currently dedicated as protected areas, as of October 2023. A number that I genuinely hope to see increase as the years go on. And within these, the Bogd Khan Uul Biosphere Reserve is the oldest national park. So, let’s dive into the history of this place and the area surrounding it.
Bogd Khan Mountain is located just outside of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, the capital of the country and has played an extremely important role throughout Mongolia’s history. It is roughly an hour’s drive away from the capital, making it an easy day trip as many of the sites I visited while researching were quick to point out. It has several religious sites over the mountain, while the whole of the park covers a total of 67,300 hectares or 260 square miles. It is considered a sacred mountain and covered with a scattering of Monasteries and stupas, or structures for meditation. The name of the mountain actually comes from the 8th spiritual leader of Mongolia; however, the site has been important for both Buddhism and Shamanism.
First, let’s dive into the history of this park. So, this park has been an extremely important site for centuries, and the history actually begins as far back as and 12th and 13th centuries. As far back as 1294, the site was protected underneath the Great Yuan Dynasty Law, according to Tour Mongolia’s website. When Tooril Khan forbade any form of hunting or logging on the mountain, and at this time the mountain was just the Khan Mountain. Later on, it was leased during the Ming Dynasty by the government in the 1500s. It was designated a protected area in 1778 by the Mongolian government in power at the time and has remained under this protection since. Also, during this time period, which would have been underneath the Qing Dynasty, a governor successfully petitioned to hold ceremonies for worship on the site, which still occur today. There was a break in these ceremonies from 1921-1995, but we will discuss this break in worship a bit later in the episode. The name was briefly changed during the Soviet period, to Choivalsan, however, it was later changed again to Bogd Khan Uul Strictly Protected Area or Bogd Khan National Park. And later on, the Bogd Khan Biosphere Reserve when it was declared a reserve by UNESCO, at which point it increased to the size of 67,300 hectares. The park is named after the ruler of Mongolia, he was a spiritual ruler and the last khagan. Within Buddhist culture, he was the 3rd highest position, however, he was also the leader or emperor of the Mongols. His reign was from 1911-1924, and we will get to why he was so important in a moment.
In addition to the park, we are going to talk about the most famous ruins within the park, the Manzushire Monastery. As they actually played a pivotal role in the history of the park. For many, when hiking and visiting the park, this will actually be the first stop on the journey. The monastery was established in 1733 and is on the side south, some 15 kilometers south of the capital. It was dedicated to Mañjuśrī, the Bodhisattva of wisdom. A Bodhisattva, for those who aren’t familiar with Buddhism, is someone who has reached enlightenment, but not entered nirvana or paradise, to help others reach enlightenment. I have seen it compared to deities, or compared in ways to saints, or sublime beings. The monastery came to be underneath the Khan, in 1750, before the creation of the park. Originally, there was only one temple, however, a second was added in 1750, and again in 1770. It was destroyed in the 1930s over a course of tragic events. These events are also what caused the pause in the park festivities I mentioned earlier in the episode. The end of the monastery began on February 3, 1921, when the Bogd Khan, the man I mentioned earlier, chose to seek refuge at the monastery. He had been previously captured by invading Chinese troops, after briefly reigning, following a declaration of independence by Mongolia in 1911. It didn’t last long until he was captured. However, he was released prior to the Mongolian Revolution of 1921. This revolution would see the second rise of Bogd Khan; however, he was severely weakened. After this rise to power, the Chief Abbot Tserendorj worked with him, until the Bogd Khan’s death in 1924. After his death, there was essentially no one standing in the way of the socialist party moving in and taking over, and they did so with extreme prejudice. Basically, trying to purge the country of all traces of Buddhism. Tserendorj had his personal property confiscated, and he and another 23 Lamas, or monks from the temple were arrested. Not much longer after that, the remaining 53 at the temple were also exiled, arrested, and then the majority of them were later executed. The temples were then destroyed, and only some of the scriptures were saved and moved to the Mongolian National Library. This was part of what is known as the Stalinist Purges. The purges were not limited to this monastery and were also known as the Great Purge or the Great Terror, great here meaning large quantity or large reaching, meaning lots of terror. And this site wasn’t the only ones in Mongolia, its estimated that around 18,000 monks, and some 700 monasteries were destroyed across the country. Altogether, this was a small part of the total purges. as it is estimated around 750,000 people were outright killed, and another million were sent away to labor camps, where countless more died. The thing is, they cut out and removed all traces of people from photographs by hand, as well as removed documentation of their existence, so these numbers are the best estimates by scholars, but we honestly don’t know for sure.
Altogether, at its height, there was a total of over 20 temples, and would have reached around 300 monks, it also would have housed countless scriptures. Around the site are carvings and cave paintings dating back to the 18th century, which managed to escape the destruction, and can be seen today. Restoration efforts began in 1990, and in 1992 it was reestablished, and officially listed as protected ruins in 1998. Of the original buildings, only 1 has been rebuilt, and is a museum. However, artifacts of the original site can be seen dotting the landscape, including a 2-ton cauldron used for cooking, and originally installed in 1726. A fun fact about the cauldron that all sites seemed to throw out, was that it could cook 10 sheep or 2 cows at a single time. This is apparently equivalent to 1800 liters or 476 US gallons, or 396 imperial gallons.
Science Direct had an article titled “The Forest vegetations structure of the mountain” by Bazarragchaa et al in 2022, that stated that the area within the park was broken up into 3 zones. 12,216 ha were restricted, 16,000 ha were pristine, and 13,433 ha were protected. In other studies, I have seen other words used in place of these, but basically what this means is that the area on the outskirts of the park allowed humans in to participate in recreational activities, though often with limitations. In the inner most areas, these zones are intended to be untouched by humans, or left as much as possible for the wildlife to use only, and then in-between them is an area you might have heard of called the buffer zone. And this zone is basically there to act as a buffer or padding to prevent the human areas from spilling over into the wildlife areas and vice versa. Of course, that means that the most frequent encounters with wildlife tend to happen in these buffer zones. Not all of it, but a larger proportion of the encounters in parks. Of course, when the overall habitat decreases, that means the buffer gets smaller, increasing the likelihood of the inhabitants of these regions coming into contact.
Currently, there are efforts underway to help revitalize the park, and reforest it. While this has been one of the oldest continuously protected sites, it has had its share of trauma. Nearby construction from the surrounding areas, forest fires from irresponsible guests, and illegal timber harvesting are just some of the issues that has put the land in danger, according to an article on Science Direct titled “The Forest vegetations structure of the mountain” by Bazarragchaa et al in 2022. Additional problems include nonnative feral animals from the city escaping into the region, which a student at the University of Arizona was researching as part on wolves and feral dogs that same year. In addition to its cultural history, the site serves an extremely important environmental function.
That being said, the park is currently a great place for hiking, with lush growth, and bubbling streams. It still has a wide variety of wildlife, including sables, boars, foxes, deer, etc. It has bare granite rocks on the south side, taiga vegetation, grassland, alpine tundra, mixed forests, and Siberian birches. Basically, it has a large mixture of habitats, basically fields of grass all the way to evergreen forests and everything in between, due to the dramatic changes of elevations. It plays an essential role for the Arctic Ocean Tuul River Basin and has 20 streams that feed into the Tuul River.
I actually found a legend on a few tour sites, about why the mountain is shaped the way it is. Apparently, the Bogd was a famous archer, seeking the hand of Tuul, a beautiful mermaid. However, Chingeltei, a wrestler, and another mountain nearby, apparently sought her hand as well. They chose to battle to win her hand, and according to Tourist Info Center, when Chingeltei lost, he asked that his head be removed and placed so he can gaze upon Tuul even in death, and it is his head that creates Zaisan Hill within the park, and his body that lies to the north, while Bogd, can be with his Tuul.
It offers recreational activities such as hiking, horseback riding, picnicking and more. Apparently, it is also a hotspot for geocaches, which are hidden all over the mountain, though there is an online site to direct you to those. Geocaches are an outdoor recreational activity, where you go to a certain location and find treasure, based on a satellite location. It is a mixture of dense forest and alpine grasslands. It was added to the UNSECO World Hertiage Tentative List on August 6, 1996. As I mentioned in the episode, one of the most important aspects of this location is that it is a sacred site, so, to put it mildly, everyone should be on their best behavior, and give it the respect it deserves. Going into the Travel vlog part of the episode, if you choose to visit, there are multiple ways to go, just make sure that if you are planning a trip on your own, you do apply for the correct permits, prior to taking a trip. It is required to get a permit, so please double check that, as well as pack for all types of weather. Apparently, the weather is unpredictable at best, and tends to change with little warning. So, make sure to be prepared. There are also guided tours, and other options as well, which might be a better option for those unfamiliar with how to avoid altitude sickness. The peak reaches 2,265 meters, so that is an additional consideration to keep in mind. Additionally, I did notice that not all of the companies who provide tours to the areas have accessible programs available, what we in America call ADA accommodations, so if you need that, please make sure to research thoroughly. Other points of interest within the site are Tsetsee Gun Peak and the Zaisan Memorial. The memorial is a soviet era memorial to honor Russian and Mongolians soldiers who died in battle during World War II. There is also nearby Nukht Valley, a ski resort, and a lot more.
And with that, we finish our episode, I know it’s a bit short and sweet, but never fear, we have an interview episode coming out right now as well! So please make sure to check out both episodes. This episode is with Kasper Sierslev, author of Win Win House, Moving in House, CCO at Zite, and an overall guru of marketing. He walks us through his design process and introduces and explains his latest books. He also explains why those of us in design should think more about marketing.
As always- please rate, review, and subscribe everywhere you get your podcasts from. You can find me on Instagram at architecturecoffeeandink. Email the show at architecturecoffeeandink@gmail.com or the blog at architecturecoffeeandink.com. Architecture, Coffee, & Ink is a Hollywood C. Studios, LLC production. I am excited to meet with all my designers, dreamers, and DIY enthusiasts next time, but in the meantime,
May your coffee mugs be full, and your inkwells never run dry.
60 secs end song re-looped.
NOTE: SOURCES WILL BE ADDED LATER THIS WEEK, CHECK IN LATER!
