Article

Name: Unveiling the connection between Buryat ritual folklore and rock paintings

Authors: Liudmila S. Dampilova

Institute for Mongolian, Buddhist and Tibetan Studies of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Ulan-Ude, Russian Federation

In the section Study of folklore

Abstract:

For the first time, a comparative analysis of the correlation between ritual verbal materials and rock paintings has been conducted from an interdisciplinary perspective encompassing folklore studies, ethnography, and archeology. The study focuses on four variants of scribbles and the rites performed in these mountains. The analysis has led to the conclusion that the de-scription of the drawing of a warrior on the mountain completely coincides with the rite dedi-cated to the mythological shamanic celestial Shargay-noyon. The second monument, dedicat-ed to a real warrior, has also been found to correspond to the ritual devoted to the spirit-guardian Boro-Sharga. Due to the ancient origin of the drawings on Mount Khashkhai, a par-tial association with the ritual has been established, with the drawings being mentioned in the text of the ritual as a sign of the deity. No correlation has been identified between the earliest drawings from Mount Baitag and the rites conducted in the early 19th century and at present. The drawings matching in time with the verbal material of the ritual proved to have been in-tentionally drawn by shamans or mythologized under the shamanic story. The ancient monu-ments of art on the revered mountains have been found to have no shamanic semantics. In the ritual text, however, they serve as sacred signs or are implied as messages from heaven to connect the two worlds.

Keywords: folklore, archive, writings, shamanic chants, sacred space, archaeology, ritual, drawing

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