Geseriada celeberations


The great epical works are noted for their remarkable property of uniting peoples, bringing them closer to each other.  One might recollect how many peoples of the world have been constantly finding the bridges to closer relations, better understanding each other enjoying the beauty and wisdom of the “Iliad” and “Odissey”. Belonging to the number of such immortal works is undoubtedly the “Geser” epic which is a spiritual treasure of the peoples of Central Asia. One should note that “The secret history of Mongols”, “Jangar” and “Geser” are the three tops of the common Mongolian cultural heritage. The jubilees of the first two were widely celebrated in Mogolia and Kalmykia in 1990, it was desirable to celebrate the jubilee of the “Geser” epic on the Buryat land. 
“Geser” is the chief cultural phenomenon in the Baikal region displaying itself as a priority trend in the cultural life of Buryatia.
In June 1989 the Union of the writers of Buryatia held a conference actively participating in which were the scholars, the representatuives of all the creative unions, Ministries of culture and education as well as the representatives of the Ust’-Orda and Aginsk Buryat autonomous districts. The noted folklore scholars including the “Geser” experts put forward an idea of celebrating the 1000th anniversary of the “Geser” epic and holding in 1995 the International forum - festival “The “Geser” epic as the treasure of the peoples of Central Asia”.
The Geseriade festivities were organized according to a united all-Republican and inter-regional program of folklore festival that comprised the Buryats inhabiting both the sides of the Baikal sea. According to the Act of the Supreme Soviet of Buryatia the folklore festivals under the slogan of the “Geser” epic – the treasure of the peoples of Central Asia” were to last for five years (1991-1995), they were to be held in the frame of an international festival. The closing forum of the festival was to be organized in the summer of 1995 in Ulan-Ude.
When the Geseriade five-year program was confirmed there arose the necessity of a bright original symbol uniting all the folklore festivals on the vast territory inhabited by the Buryats from Cis-Angaria and the Lena upper reaches to the Aginsk steppes of Transbaikalia. And it was Geser’s banner that was to present the symbol of the whole Geseriade. The idea of the banner was forwarded by the poet B.S. Dugarov. The blue cloth at the end gets branched into the three parts. “As the basis we attracted the magic trinity, - explains D.-N. Dugarov. – These are the three branches of the flag – the three foundations of being or existence: the air, the water and the fire. And we made the roofing in the form of the trident: the two horns of the bull, and the small horn in the middle symbolizing the strength of the spirit and might”. Geser’s banner was made with help of the All-Buryat Association for the development of culture presented by its president D.-N. Dugarov and vice-president B.D. Bayartuev.
The description. The cloth of Geser’s banner is of light-blue color. That is the color of the Sky. According to the epic Geser-bator is an envoy of the deities-tengris. He descended onto the Earth in the time of troubles in order to establish justice, kindness and happiness for the people. The color cloth is divided at its tip into the three ends that symbolize the following:
  1. The common roots of the cultural and spiritual legacy of the peoples of Central Asia that are symbolized by the three main versions of the “Geser” epic, i.e. the Tibetan, Mongolian and Buryat;
  2. The unity of the three territorial divisions inhabited by the Buryats that were artificially divided in 1937 into the Republic of Buryatia, the Ust’- Orda district of the Irkutsk region and the Aginsk district of the Chita region.
Written on the color cloth in the old-Mongolian script is the word “Geser”. On the left of the inscription there is a golden-orange application of the symbols of the Sun, the Moon and the bodies of flame. They symbolize the peoples’ dream of the eternity of the Sun’s and the Moon’s light and peaceful homestead.
The Banner was consecrated during the folklore festival on August 17, 1991 in accordance with the ancient custom, the people’s traditions of the Buryats on the shore of the Angara river. The ceremony was completed in the settlement of Khadaakhan, the Nukut locality, the Ust-Orda Buryat autonomous district of the Irkutsk region, in the motherland of the outstanding epic-teller Pyokhon Petrov. This event is taken to be the starting point of the implementation of the Gseriade idea. In honor of the 125th anniversary of P. Petrov’s birthday there was a splendid folk festival during which Geser’s banner was raised and consecrated.
The banner was raised during all the events of the forum-festival “The “Geser epic” as the treasure of the peoples of Central Asia”. The holding of this festival was confirmed by the Act of the Presidium of the Supreme Council of Buryatia from the 15, November, 1990. The Buryat Geseriade festival which proceeded in 5 stages in 1991-1995 incorporated all the territorial and administrative units with the Buryat population.
The map of the Geseriada celebrations in Buryatia

The route of Geser’s Banner

The Geseriade first stage
The beginning of Geseriada, the settlement of Khadan, the Nukut distric
  1. The story-teller Pyokhon Petrov’s motherland, the settlement of Khadakhan, the Nukut district, the Irkutsk region. August 17-18, 1991.
    2. The party dedicated to the 125th anniversary of P. Petrov
  2. The story-teller Papa Tushemilov’s motherland, the settlement of Melkhitui, the Ust’- Orda Buryat autonomous district, the Irkutsk region. May 28, 1992.
    3. The banner of Geser at Papa Tushemilov's house
  3. Folklore expert, ethnographer Matvei Khangalov, the settlement of Zakulei, the Nukut area, Ust’- Orda Buryat autonomous district of the Irkutsk region.
    4. In Hangalov's homeland, the settlement of Zakulei
  4. The motherland of the storyteller Paramon Dmitriev, the settlement of Vorot-Ongoi, the Nukut district of the Ust’-Orda Buryat autonomous district of the Irkutsk region. May 29, 1992.
    5. The banner of Geser at P. Dmitriev's house, the Ust'-Orda
  5. Folklore expert, writer, playwright Apollon Shadaev, the settlement of Obusa, the Osinsk area, the Ust’-Orda Buryat autonomous district of the Irkutsk region. May 29, 1992.
    6. In A. Shadaev's homeland, the settlement of Obusa
  6. Story-teller Apollon Toroyev, the settlement of Bokhan, the Usy’-Orda Buryat autonomous district, the Irkutsk region. May 30, 1992.
  7. The motherland of folklore expert, collector of the Buryat folklore texts, the Khokhorsk settlement, the Bokhan area, Ust-Orda Buryat autonomous district, the Irkutsk province. May 30, 1992.
  8. The motherland of the storyteller Manshud Imegenov, the settlement of Kukunut, the Ekhirit Bulagan Buryat autonomous district, the Irkutsk province. May 31, 1992.
  9. The Geseriade round table, the settlement of Ust’-Orda. June 1, 1992.
  10. The story-teller Platon Stapanov’s motherland, the settlement of Nygda, the Alarsk area, the Buryat autonomous district, the Irkutsk province. June 1, 1992.
The Geseriade second stage
The passing of the Geser's banner from Ust'-Orda to the representatives of Buryatia, Ulan-Ude
  1. The passing of the baton of the folklore festivals, Geser’s banner from Ust’-Orda to the representatives of Buryatia, the city of Ulan-Ude, the Soviets’ square. June 27, 1992.
  2. The celebrations devoted to meeting Geser’s banner in the legendary memorial places of Buryatia, the Atsagat settlement, the Zaigrayev locality, Naran-Khada (Khorinsk area). June 27, 1992.
    3. The Egitui Buddhist temple
  3. The folklore festival devoted to Geseriade in Yeravna, the locality of Shuluuta-khada, the Egitui Buddhist temple, the Ust’-Egita settlement. June, 28, 1992.
    4. Meeting of Geser's banner on the route Yeravna-Khorinsk, 1992
  4. The consecration of Geser’s horse’s tethering post in the motherland of Buryatia’s people’s writer, the author of the literary compilation of the epic “Abai Geser”, Namjil Baldano, the Orongoi settlement of the Ivolga area, the Repub,ic of Buryatia. November, 22, 1992.
  5. The Geser Banner’ s send-off, the village of Ust’-Egita, the Yeravna area, the Republic of Buryatia.
  6. The folklore festival: the parting words, the farewell speeches in honor of Geser’s Banner, at the foot of the Sacred Shalsana hill in the vicinity of the Kizhinga settment, the Republic of Buryata. June 13, 1993.
The Geseriade III stage
  1. The meeting at the borderline between Buryatia and the Chita region, the Bada pass, the Zakulta hill. June 14, 1993.
  2. The show presentation of the folklore collectives of the Khilok, Petrovsk-Zabaikal’ski, Ulyoty localities of the Chita region? The Arei lake? The Kuka spring. June 14, 1992.
  3. The greeting of Geser’s Banner, folklore festival, the Ugdan settlement, the Buddhist temple – datsan, the Ayiraljan khatan hill, the city of Chita. June 15. 1993.
  4. The consecration of Geser’s horse’s tethering post, the Argaliyin mountain pass, the borderline of the Aginsk Buryat autonomous district of the Chita region. June 15, 1993.
  5. Geseriade -93 (Geserai naadan), the settlement of Aginskoye. June 16-17, 1993.
  6. The blessings to Geser’s Banner, the transfer of Geser’ Banner for a year of safekeeping, the sacred Alkhana mountain, the Onon river, the Chita region, 1993.
The Geseriade IV stage
  1. Welcome of Geser’s Banner, Geseriade – 94, the settlement of Kharyaska, the Mukhorshibir district, the Republic of Buryatia. July 22, 1994.
  2. The Buryat poet Dondok Ulzytuyev’s motherland, the settlement of Sheberte, the Bichur district, the Republic of Buryatia. February 14, 1995.
  3. Geser’s Banner blessing, the settlement of Khayan, the settlement of Kharlun, the settlement of Murochi, The Murochinsk Buddhist temple of the Kyakhta locality, the republic of Butyatia. February 15, 1995.
  4. The “The White Month (the Sagalgan)” folklore festival as the beginning of the year of Geser”, the city of Kyakhta, The House of culture. February, 15, 1995.
  5. The consecration of the Geser’s Serge complex in the mountain pass. The folklore party “The Sagalgan White month” – the beginning of the year marking the one thousand’s anniversary of the “Abai Geser” epic. The city of Gusinoozyorsk, the Selenga area, the republic of Buryatia. February 16, 1995.
The Geseriade V stage
  1. The Circumbaikalian district, the Mandrik mountain.
  2. The Kabansk district, Kamensk settlement.
  3. The Surkharban devoted to the one thousandth anniversary of the “Geser” epic, the settlements of Tory and Kyren of the Tunka district, the republic of Buryatia.
  4. The folklore festival devoted to the 1000th anniversary of the Geseriade, the Orlyk settlement, the Oka district, the republic of Buryatia.
  5. The consecration of Geser’s temple, the settlement of Khujir, the Oka district of the Republic of Buryatia, June 9, 1995.
  6. The closing festival of the Buryat Geseriade devoted to the 1000th anniversary of the people’s epic “Abai Geser”, the city of Ulan-Ude, June 30 – July 2, 1995.
Geser (V. Balzhinimaev) and Alma-Mergen (G. Shogdagbaeva), Yeravna 1992
In 1992 there began the first stage of the Geseriade festival in the Ust’-Orda Buryat autonomous district of the Irkutsk province. The celebrations began there because it was necessary to honor the tellers of the “Geser” epic. The delegation of Buryatia and the folklore group of the Khadakhan settlement of the Nukut district of Ust’-Orda visited 10 villages – the native places of the epic-tellers and folklore scholars.

Under the Banner of Geser there were folklore festivals in the birthplaces of the epic-tellers in the Irkutsk region P. Petrov, P. Tushemilov, P. Dmitriev, A. Shadaev, M. Imegenov, P. Stepanov. The board of directors for the folklore festival devoted to Geseriade organized the presentation of the documentary film “The uligershin (The story-teller)” of P. Petrov, an outstanding epic-teller of “Abai Geser”.

Organized in June, 1992 was the second stage of the festival – Geser’s Banner was brought to Buryatia. It solemnly continued its march in the sacral places of the Khorinsk and Kijinginsk districts.Then from Ulan-Ude it was seen off to Yeravna along the route: the sellement of Atsagat – Tengerin Boldog (Zaigraevo) – Naran khada (Khorinsk) – Ust’-Egita.
The Banner of Geser on the route Zaigraevo-Yeravna
Here Geser’s Banner was kept for a year in the Ust’-Egitui datsan close by the legendary statue of Zandan Zhuu which is taken to be the life image of the Buddha. And then in the spring of 1993 it was brought to the Chita region from Buryatia to continue the celebrations.
Epic-teller R. Erdineev, Yeravna 1992
The third stage of the folklore festival “The epic of Geser as the treasure of the peoples of Central Asia” which was held in June, 17-18 in the settlement of Aginsk, the center of the Buryat autonomous district, the Chita region became the central event of the Geseriade-93.
The main celebration was entitled “Geserei naadan – 93 in Aginsk”. The Geseriade on the Aga land became a truly all-people event, it took place in the open air – on the stadium and hippodrome (racecourse). One can understand the delight with which greeted was the appearance of Geser together with his thirty three bators! Geser made the round of the eleven yurts that presented the eleven Aga kins that originated from the eleven children of the legendary hunter Khoridoi who captured on Baikal lake a goddess in the form of a swan.
The scientific and practical conference held during the festival was a notable event. The talks were given by the scholars from Ulan-Ude, Irkutsk, Chita, Aginsk, Mongolia and Japan. The recommendations were given on the necessity of further deeper study of the problems of the outstanding epic “Abai Geser”, on cooperating with the foreign scholars and giving the Geseriade festival an official status of the international folklore celebrations; with the aid of the UNESCO to declare the year of 1995 as the year of the “Geser” epic. It was proposed to publish the epic of Geser in the Buryat language for the broad public.
In 1994 the route of Geser’s Banner ran across the territories of the Mukhorshibir, Selenginsk, Bichursk, Kyakhtinsk, Djidinsk and Ivolginsk districts.
Early in the morning in July, 1994 in the Muhkorshibirsk district on the border of Buryatia and the Chita region the two delegations met. Geser’s Banner, a big blue cloth that was kept for a year in the land of Aginsk again began to shine in the land of Buryatia. Geser’s banner was received by the hosts of the present folklore festival in the face of the Mukhorshibir district administration head S. V. Ivanov, the chairman of the association of the Mukhoshibir fellow countrymen D. Ts. Budaev, the peoples poets of Buryatia D. Z. Zhalsaraev and G. G. Chimitov, the chairman of the AAWK (the All-Buryat Association of the workers of Culture) D.- N. Dugarov, the USSR people’s artist K. Bazarsadaev and others. Solemn and picturesque was the ritual of passing Geser’s Banner. Accompanied with the honorable escort the Banner moved to the settlement of Kharyaska where the folklore festival “Geseriade-94” was to be opened.
Geser’s banner, the festival’s symbol is received by President of the Republic of Burytia L. V. Potapov, chairman of the “Geseriade-94” organizing committee V.B.Saganov and head of the region administration S.V. Ivanov.
Each delegation of the republican region mounted a yurt (an ancient dwelling of the Buryats). The contest jury on the provision of the necessary facilities headed by RF people’s artist D.- N. Dugarov thoroughly examined the delegates’ participation in the folklore festival from the viewpoint of the design of the yurts, concerts, participation in the sports contests, etc. The Ivolginsk region was awarded the first place for the best participation in the festival.
Held in a big yurt, its host being the head of the St. Petresburg datsan, deputy of the Peoples’ Khural Fyodor Samaev, was the scientific and practical seminar “The Geseriade, folklore in the contemporary culture” organized by the research center, the RB Ministry of culture.
The Geseriade folklore festival in the Selenginsk district of Burytia incorporated the following: the ritual of worshipping of the sacred objects and legendary places, the “Meeting of Geser-bator” show, the two contests “The prophetic word of the epic of Geser” and “The beauty of Geseriade -94”, sports contests “Geser bators’ sports games”.
Held during the fifth stage of the Geseriade festival were the two surkharbans (sport games, festival) in the Tunka and Oka districts. The choice of the Tunka and Oka districts for the final accord gives the whole event a lofty, elevated aspect inherent in Geser’s image. The Mundarga thirty three tops, the Nukhen-Daban crossing, the Ulan-Khayirkhan, Khan Uula mountains, the localities like Turag Schuluun, Shebee, the Khukhu-Nur lake are closely connected with the deeds of Geser and his bators.
It is since the autumn of the previous year that the preparation for the “Geser” festival started in the Khujir locality. It was in the Khujir locality that Geser’s temple (sanctuary) was being built. It was within the frame of the Russian-American project that a spacious territory for the natural and ethnographic park, i.e. “Geser’s territory” was to be allocated. And the Banner of Geser that had been carried about the Irkutsk, Chita regions and the whole of Buryatia was to be carried in all those places taken to be sacred by the local people. On the eve of the solemn jubilee the Banner made its way to the mountain peaks of the Tunka and Oka or the Khukhei localities as the Sayans were called in the epic of Geser, and it completed its way in the capital of Buryatia, the city of Ulan-Ude.
The cloth of Geser’s Banner is covered with many-coloured khadags, welcoming and complimentary broad ribbons that were tied up in each of the districts. It looked as if on one flagstaff there kind of got connected the contemporary flag and the ancient tug - banner. The thousands of kilometers have been covered, tens of folklore festivals have been held whereat the Geser’s banner has become the symbol of all-people triumph of the epic-uliger “Abai Geser khubun”. The main actions took place in the open air. Serving as background to them was the majestic mountain panorama: either the mountain ridges of the Khamar Daban and the Ulan-Burgasy, or the thirty three mountain tops of the Altan-Mundarga, the tallest top of the Sayan ridges called Munku-Sardyg or the Kropotkin’s mountains clad in snow.
The potential of the Geseriade is enormous, this is not all there is to it; it is not confined to definite time limitations for Geseriade is kind of criterion of the vitality of the peoples culture, the source and the guarantee and the essential condition of its inexhaustibility and historical inescapability.