Altan Ovoo Mountain in Sukhbaatar

Altan Ovoo Mountain or Dari Ovoo Mountain is a sacred mountain located in Dariganga soum of Sukhbaatar province, right next to Dariganga town. The mountain is 1354m tall and actually Altan Ovoo is one of the several volcanoes situated in Dariganga soum. It is worshipped by an eastern Mongolian subgroup of people called the Dariganga who inhabit the six southern soums of Sukhbaatar province. Altan Ovoo Mountain has been worshipped since the 17^th century but for a brief period of time the tradition had stopped. And it was restored in the 90’s before Altan Ovoo officially became a sacred mountain in 2004. Traditionally, only men are allowed to go on top of the mountain and they annually go up there to worship it. To the west of the mountain, there is a lake called Duut Nuur or Singing Lake and to the east of Altan Ovoo, the Shiliin Bogd Mountain is situated. And on top of Altan Ovoo, you can find an evergreen tree called Sorogshin and it is supposed to be the soul of the embodiment of the mountain’s vitality. The tree was brought from Otgontenger Mountain and got planted on Altan Ovoo over 300 years ago.