Reworking a future: Buddhist revival in Mongolia

The Documentary Podcast

BBC

Society & Culture, Documentary, Personal Journals

4.3 • 2.6K Ratings

🗓️ 20 June 2025

⏱️ 27 minutes

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Summary

Cambridge anthropologist David Sneath is in Mongolia to find out how Buddhism continues to make a comeback after years of persecution under Communism. David tells the story of how a young Mongolian boy has recently been recognised as the new reincarnation in a lineage of major Buddhist leaders, once known in the country as ‘Holy Emperor’. The 10-year-old boy will, when formally enthroned, be considered the 10th Jebtsundamba Khutughtu in a lineage stretching back centuries. The Jebtsundamba Khutughtu (widely known to Mongolians as the “Bogd’) is a leader of the Gelugpa School within the tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, and the young boy was officially recognised by the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan religious leader. David meets the boy’s mother, religious leaders and leading cultural figures to find out what is in store for the young Bogd. This episode of The Documentary, comes to you from Heart and Soul, exploring personal approaches to spirituality from around the world.

Transcript

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0:00.0	You're listening to Heart and Soul from the BBC World Service. And for this episode, come
0:04.6	with me to Mongolia, where Buddhism is enjoying a revival and where a family is coming to terms
0:09.8	with the fact that their son is recognised as a major reincarnation. Buddhist monks at a ceremony here in the Mongolian capital of Ulian Bata.
0:27.7	The prayers are ancient, but this scene is not as timeless as it may appear.
0:36.1	I'm David Sneath, and for this episode I'm in Mongolia looking at how Buddhism is being revived in the country after decades of neglect,
0:45.1	and at the extraordinary story of how a young boy has been recognised as the latest reincarnation in a lineage of Buddhist leaders that stretches back centuries.
0:56.1	Why is the recognition of the 10th Jebson-Dambah-Hotugged such a sensitive matter?
1:02.2	I think there was an initial excitement that we were making headlines in one way or another,
1:08.1	but I think it gradually turned into a bit of an apprehension.
1:11.5	Should we really be making headlines, specifically in this religious space?
1:17.8	This vast country is still coming to terms with two revolutions,
1:22.3	the collapse of Soviet-style state socialism in the 1990s,
1:26.6	and the rise of a wild market economy.
1:29.9	The capital city of Ulambata is on the site of an 18th century Buddhist monastic centre,
1:36.2	almost all of which was destroyed in the Stalinist era purges of the 1930s.
1:41.9	In the Soviet-era-Mongolian Academy of Science Building, I'm meeting the historian,
1:47.0	Dr. Batar, Michigischigisch. Today, the statistics suggest that about 18,000 monks were killed,
1:55.0	executed by the communist regime. It's not only killing the thousands of innocent monks,
2:04.0	but at the same time destroying the invaluable
2:07.7	the heritage of Mongolian Buddhism,
2:10.8	including cultural art, academic, philosophical, historical,
2:17.4	items. Almost complete destruction took place.
	...

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