Tsagaan Sar white moon or white month) is the lunisolar New Year festival of the Mongols

Mongols

Mongols ) are a Central-East Asian ethnic group that lives mainly in the countries of Mongolia, China, and Russia. In China, ethnic Mongols can be found mainly in the central north region of China such as Inner Mongolia...

. Today, Mongols are found in Mongolia

Mongolia

Mongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator, the capital and largest...

, Inner Mongolia

Inner Mongolia

Inner Mongolia is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China, located in the northern region of the country. Inner Mongolia shares an international border with the countries of Mongolia and the Russian Federation...

, Buryatia

Buryatia

The Republic of Buryatia is a federal subject of Russia . Its capital is the city of Ulan-Ude. Its area is with a population of 972,658 .-Geography:...

 and Kalmykia

Kalmykia

The Republic of Kalmykia is a federal subject of Russia . Population: It is the only Buddhist region in Europe. It has also become well-known as an international chess mecca because its former President, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, is the head of the International Chess Federation .-Geography:*Area:...

. It is often celebrated around the same time as the Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year – often called Chinese Lunar New Year although it actually is lunisolar – is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays. It is an all East and South-East-Asia celebration...

 (sometimes a lunar month later). However, the Mongol Tsagaan Sar is culturally more related to the Tibetan New Year than to the Chinese New Year.

The White Moon holiday is celebrated two months after the first new moon following the winter solstice

Winter solstice

Winter solstice may refer to:* Winter solstice, astronomical event* Winter Solstice , former band* Winter Solstice: North , seasonal songs* Winter Solstice , 2005 American film...

. In 2009, White Moon fell on February 25, and in 2010, it will be on February 14. Tsagaan Sar is one of the most important Mongol holidays.

Around the New Year families burn candles at the altar symbolising enlightenment

Enlightenment in Buddhism

The English term enlightenment has commonly been used in the western world to translate several Sanskrit, Pali, Chinese and Japanese terms and concepts, especially bodhi, prajna, kensho, satori and buddhahood.-Insight:...

. Also people greet each other by saying 'Amar mend uu?' or 'Amar bain uu?', a very formal greeting which one says to one's elders. Mongols also visit friends and family on this day and exchange gifts. A typical Mongol family will meet in the home dwelling of the eldest in the family. Many people will be dressed in full garment of national Mongol costumes. When greeting their elders during the White Moon festival, Mongols grasp them by their elbows to show support for them. The eldest receives greetings from each member of the family except for his/her spouse. During the greeting ceremony, family members hold long pieces of colored cloth called khadag. After the ceremony, the extended family eats rice with curds, dairy products and buuz and drinks airag

Airag

Airag may refer to*Airag, also spelled ayrag, the Mongolian word for fermented horse milk; see kumis, the name under which it is more widely known throughout Central Asia. It is an alcoholic spirit that people drank in the Khan era....

, and exchanges gifts.

The day before Tsagaan Sar is called Bituun

Dark moon

A dark moon describes the Moon during that time that it is invisible against the backdrop of the Sun in the sky. The duration of a dark moon is between 1.5 and 3.5 days, depending on the orientation of the Earth and Sun....

, the name of the lunar phase of dark moon. The lunar phases are Bituun (dark moon), Shined (new crescent moon), Tergel (full moon), and Huuchid (waxing moon). On the Bituun day, people thoroughly clean around home, herders also clean the livestock barns and shades, to meet the New Year fresh. The Bituun ceremony also includes burning candles to symbolize enlightenment of the samsara and all sentient beings and putting 3 pieces of ice at the doorway so that the horse of the deity Palden Lhamo could drink as the deity is believed to visit every household on this day. In the evening, families gather together--immediate family usually, in contrast to the large feast gatherings of White Moon day--and see out the old year eating dairy products and buuz. Traditionally, Mongolians settle all issues and repay all debts from the old year by this day.

Traditional food for the festival includes dairy products, rice with curds (tsagaa-цагаа) or rice with raisin (berees-бэрээс), a pyramid of traditional cookies erected on a large dish in a special fashion symbolising Mount Sumeru or Shambhala

Shambhala

In Tibetan Buddhist tradition, Shambhala or Shangri-la is a mythical kingdom hidden somewhere in Inner Asia...

 realm, a grilled side of sheep and minced beef or minced mutton steamed inside pastry, a dish known as buuz

Buuz

Buuz are a type of Mongolian steamed dumpling filled with minced mutton, or beef meat. The meat is flavoured with onion or garlic and salted. Occasionally, they are flavoured with sprouted fennel seeds and other seasonal herbs...

, horse meat and traditional cookies. Tsagaan Sar is a lavish feast, requiring preparation days in advance, as the women make large quantities of buuz and freeze them to save for the holiday.

During Mongolia's Communist period, the government banned Tsagaan Sar and tried to replace it with a holiday called "Collective Herder's Day", but the holiday was practiced again after the 1990 Democratic Revolution in Mongolia

1990 Democratic Revolution in Mongolia

The 1990 Peaceful Democratic Revolution in Mongolia was a democratic revolution that started with hunger strikes to overthrow the Mongolian People's Republic and eventually moved towards the democratic present day Mongolia and the writing of the new constitution. It was spearheaded by mostly...

.

Dates

The Mongol calendar

Mongolian calendar

The Mongol calendar is a lunisolar calendar based on system developed in 1747 by monk Ishbaljir . The Mongol year is composed of either 12 or 13 lunar months, each beginning and ending with a new moon...

 in the Tegus Buyantu (Төгсбуянт) system is a lunisolar calendar

Lunisolar calendar

A lunisolar calendar is a calendar in many cultures whose date indicates both the moon phase and the time of the solar year. If the solar year is defined as a tropical year then a lunisolar calendar will give an indication of the season; if it is taken as a sidereal year then the calendar will...

. Tsagaan Sar is celebrated on the first through third days of the first lunar month

Lunar month

In lunar calendars, a lunar month is the time between two identical syzygies . There are many variations. In Middle-Eastern and European traditions, the month starts when the young crescent moon becomes first visible at evening after conjunction with the Sun one or two days before that evening...

.

Gregorian Gregorian calendar The Gregorian calendar, also known as the Western calendar, or Christian calendar, is the internationally accepted civil calendar. It was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII, after whom the calendar was named, by a decree signed on 24 February 1582, a papal bull known by its opening words Inter...  year	Mongol year	Tsagaan Sar*	Element and animal
1989	Цагаан	February 7 - February 10	female earth snake
1990	Машид согтонги	February 26 - February 28	male iron horse
1991	Төрөлхтний эзэн	February 15 - February 17	female iron sheep
1992	Ангира	February 4 - February 7	male water snake
1993	Цогт нигурт	...	female water ape
1994	Бода	February 11 - February 13	male wooden dog
1995	Насан төгөлдөр	...	female wooden hog
1996	Баригч	February 19 - February 21	male fire mouse
1997	Эрхэт	February 8 - February 10	female fire cattle
1998	Олон үрт	...	male earth tiger
1999	Согтох төгөлдөр	February 17 - February 19	female earth rabbit
2000	Тийн дарагч	...	male iron dragon
2001	Сүргийн манлай	January 24 - January 26	female iron snake
2002	Элдэв	February 13 - February 15	male water horse
2003	Наран	February 2 - February 4	female water sheep
2004	Наран гэтэлгэгч	February 21 - February 23	male wood ape
2005	Газар тэтгэгч	February 9 - February 11*	female wood rooster
2006	Барагдашгүй	January 30 - February 1	male fire dog
2007	Хамгийг номхотгогч	February 18 - February 20	female fire hog
2008	Хотолыг баригч	February 8 - February 10	male earth mouse
2009	Харшлалт	February 25 - February 27	female earth cattle
2010	Тийн урвагч	February 14 - February 17	male iron tiger
2011	Илжиг	February 3 - February 5	female iron rabbit
2012	Not announced	February 22 - February 25	male water dragon

* Note: The start date of Tsagaan Sar depends on longitude. For example, in 2005, Tsagaan Sar on February 8 in most of the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 and February 9 in much of Asia

Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

.