The Bogd, the sacred child of Mongolia in China’s viewfinder

The portrait sits on a silky azure blue fabric where small wrinkled cuts, stamped with the effigy of Genghis Khan, are piled up. Even the conqueror of the steppes seems to bow under the photo of this child with pale complexion and jet-black eyes who watches, enigmatic, as the faithful parade in front of the altar. The guttural chanting of red-robed monks rises like a swell in the gilded hall of the Gandan temple, the most important in Ulaanbaatar. The baby-faced boy appears serious as a pope, dressed in a yellow and red dress, wearing a tiara, against a backdrop populated by celestial dragons. But, he is not alone. A few meters back from the altar, another photo seems to be watching closely over the little monk. The life-size figure of the Dalai Lama emerges from the kitsch decorations, his mischievous gaze behind his rectangular frames.

« The teachings of the Dalai Lama are essential for world peace. I try to follow them. But, here in Mongolia…