Dwelling

A home for a Mongolian is a ger-yurt, although nowadays a lot of people live in comfortable blocks of flats. This light construction is a wise creation of nomads, irreplaceable in steppes and tried by time. It is the symbol of a family, of the link between generations and of the main values. Strict proportions of a yurt have been developed, as well as rules for its assembling, disassembling, transportation and decoration. Together with the furniture it weighs 300-400 kg which is the carrying capacity of a camel; it can be assembled or disassembled in one hour. The construction of a yurt is simple and practical. The framework of walls is made of folding wooden grates put in circle. Each grate consists of laths fastened together by leather strips. They can be contracted or stretched like an accordion, so that the height of a yurt can be changed. The framework of the vaulted roof consists of poles stuck into a special circle. On top of it a round hole is left to let the smoke out and the light in – there are no other windows. One cannot look out of it, so the nomads rely on their hearing: each sound in a steppe is spread very far, which led to tradition to dismount one’s horse fifty steps before one’s threshold. A yurt is supported by two pillars on the right and the left from the hearth and rest against the hole on top. If the wind is strong, a stone is hung between them. On the outside a yurt is covered with felt, sometimes in two layers. Above it a fabric is stretched which protects the home from snow and rain. Wooden grates and porous felt act as thermo-regulators, so inside a yurt it is warm in the winter and cool in the summertime. The door is directed to the south. The most honorary place is by the northern wall, behind the hearth, opposite the entrance. This is where honored guests are received, and the Buddhist altar is also placed there. The traditional division of the inner space of a yurt into the left (female) and right (male) has now almost gone.

The model of a yurt exhibited was made by the Mongolians as a present to I.V.Stalin. It reproduces the winter variant of the traditional Mongolian dwelling in every detail

Tent  tranported by lorry. Mongolia. Mongols. D. Ivanov. 2006		Tent mounting  (West Mongolia).  P. Rykin. 2005		Solar bar at tent. Mongolia. Mongols. A Saifieva. 2006
Altar. Buryatia. The Buryats. 19th century.		Dwelling of the Evenki in Mongolia. Mongolia. The Evenks. Rykin P., 2005.		Portrait of Genghis Khan made of stones on the mountain slope in the outskirts of Ulan Bator. Mongolia. The Mongols. Ivanov D.
Center of Ulan Bator. Mongolia. Ulan Bator. Rykin P., 2005.		In present-day Mongolia one can see satelite antenna neae the yurt. Small wind and solar startions produce electric power. Mongolia. The Mongols. Ivanov D., 2006.		Walls of a yurt are constructed of wooden bars. The roof-supporting poles are fixed to the woodern bars. Mongolia. The Mongols. Ivanov D., 2006.
A yurt in the Gobi. Mongolia. The Mongols. Rykin P., 2006.		In Mongolia the yurt may be both dwelling and temple. Mongolia. The Mongols. Ivanov D., 2006.		Mongolian yurt on a cart. The Mongols. Early 20th century.