Journal of East Asian Cultures

Vol. 18 No. 2 (2026)
Articles

Textual Descriptions of Khangai Khan, Local Spirit of the Khangai Mountains in Mongolia, and his Retinue

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  • Krisztina Teleki
Krisztina Teleki
Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE)
Bio
DOI: https://doi.org/10.38144/TKT.2026.2.7

Published 2026-07-02

Keywords

  • Buddhism,
  • Mongolian Buddhism,
  • Khangai Mountains,
  • Khangai Khan,
  • Erdene Zuu Monastery,
  • textual tradition,
  • Tibetan philology
    • ...More
    Less

How to Cite

Teleki, K. (2026). Textual Descriptions of Khangai Khan, Local Spirit of the Khangai Mountains in Mongolia, and his Retinue. Journal of East Asian Cultures, 18(2), 227–268. https://doi.org/10.38144/TKT.2026.2.7

Copyright (c) 2026 Krisztina Teleki

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Abstract

The Tibetans and Mongolians believe that mountains have a local deity, a “lord of the soil”, and that several local spirits live in the mountains, valleys, and waters of a region. These spirits can influence the lives of the inhabitants, as well as weather conditions and the growth of livestock and families. To respect them and gain their goodwill, offerings must be presented from time to time. This perception was strengthened with the spread of Buddhism in Mongolia in the 17thcentury, when Buddhist practices also reached the Khangai Mountains (4008 m, 23,014 km²), situated in central-western Mongolia.
The highest peak of the Khangai Mountains is Otgontenger (4008 m) in the west, the resi-dence of Vajrapāṇi, the protective deity of the entire mountain range. Another lord of the Khangai Mountains is Khangai Khan (Mong. Qangγai qan, Khangai jalwuu ˂ Tib. hang ka’i / hang kas rgyal po). In 18th-century texts, he appears mainly as a lord of the soil or a regional deity. His veneration became primarily associated with the first monastery in Mongolia, Erdene Zuu Mon-astery, situated in the eastern part of the Khangai Mountains and founded in 1586, as well as with its founder, Awtai Sain Khan (1554–1588).
The cult of Khangai Khan flourished in other parts of the mountain range as well. Over the centuries, several Mongolian monks and Tibetan masters wrote ritual texts in his honour in var-ious genres. A few texts describe Khangai Khan’s palace, appearance, and entourage. Today, the National Library of Mongolia in Ulaanbaatar preserves most of the surviving texts, while others are held in Buddhist monasteries in the Khangai Mountains. A few pictorial depictions of Khangai Khan have also survived. Monks have been researching their own traditions, seeking ritual texts and painted scrolls that they believe fit the traditions of their monasteries.
The present article provides a description of Khangai Khan’s celestial palace, appearance, and entourage, along with a philological analysis of ten Tibetan texts. Among the authors are three members of the Shireet Lama reincarnation lineage of Erdene Zuu Monastery, local monks of the Khangai region, and even the Seventh Panchen Lama, who had close connections with local Khalkha aristocrats and monks and thus played an important role in the spread of Buddhism and mountain cults in the Khangai region.

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