My maternal family has roots in a rather obscure part of Mongolia, absent of any sites of significance. But a few years ago, a statue marking the friendship between Chinggis Khan (also known as Genghis Khan) and Boorchu, his most loyal ally, was erected there. The bronze figures of these two warriors taking the ‘oath of the sky’ has since become a site of regular, albeit low-key, tourist visits. Local schoolchildren are taken there to sing a centuries-old song of Chinggis worship called Ezen San (Praise to the Lord). This song originates from Ordos in Inner Mongolia in China, where the Darkhad people continue to guard the relics of the great Mongol emperor and worship him—a practice that is re-emerging in Mongolia.

The transnational reproduction of Chinggis worship in Mongolia is part of a concerted effort to bring back an identity-defining practice. With the integration of Ezen San into the traditional Naadam festival and Buddhist religious ceremonies, this marks a return of a phenomenon that is simultaneously communal and intimately personal for Mongolians.

• Tags: Issue 31, Mongolia, Munkhnaran Bayarlkhagva