Khamba Lam

Khamba Lam (Noamese: Хамба Лам/'xɑːm bɑː 'lɑːm/), officially Khamba Lam of the Temple of Heaven (Khamba Lam Tengergiin Süm), is the title given to the foremost Shashin spiritual leader in Noam. The Khamba Lam is also regarded as the successor in a line of Sanvartan, known as the Gegeersen, who are believed to be the reincarnations of the Spirit Cho'khu, the Font of All Compassion according to Shashin belief.

The Khamba Lam is a revered personage in Noam and throughout the world, said to personify the peaceful unity of the Noamese people with the sacred spirits of their land, and in many ways to symbolize Noamese nationhood itself. He is the “Spiritual and Tellurial Steward” of the Tengeriin Süm (Temple of Heaven), the sprawling thirteenth-centurí temple complex located in the Holy Quarter of Samlazaz’ Imperial City, considered to be the center of Shashinism in Noam. He is also the Custodian of the Sacred Legacy, the three precious ancient relics believed to embody the sovereignty of the Noamese Nation, and ceremonially used to convey that sovereignty to each new Qaghan upon his accession to the Jade Throne.

The position of Khamba Lam carries with it great authority and power. However, unlike temporal leaders, the authority of the Khamba Lam does not arise from the physical might of a great army, or the coercive strength of the law. Rather, the power of the Khamba Lam resides in the veneration and respect he is afforded as the physical representative of thousands of years of Shashin belief and Noamese culture. The spiritual guidance of the Khamba Lam, issued in the form of oral and written Tailbaruud, is deemed to be of sacred origin, and carries the same force of authority as the Qaghan’s laws.

Incumbent

The spiritual name of the incumbent Khamba Lam is Asartom Sürkhlan (né Chormakhan Baasanjav). He is the seventeenth Khamba Lam since the office was instituted by Mengu Qaghan in 1245. Like all of his predecessors, he resides in the Blue Abbey at the Tengeriin Süm in the Imperial City. He was invested as the seventeenth Khamba Lam on 18 Cesoren 1939 at the age of four, succeeding the sixteenth Khamba Lam, Thutben Sürkhlan, who died in 1933.

Chormakhan Baasanjav was born on 3 Glana 1935 near the village of Tariagai in Shinekhir Province, into a farming family who also bred and raised horses for sale and trade. Considered “fearless” as an infant, he was identified as a soul boy at the age of two, after a delegation of Shashin monks visited his village as part of the broad search for a possible reincarnation of the sixteenth Khamba Lam, which began immediately after his death in 1933. In response to numerous reports of signs and visions, searchers initially focused on the areas to the northeast and southeast of Samlazaz.

According to broadly held belief arising out of rumors circulating at the time, the monks were later inspired to search in Shinekar Province, to the west of Samlazaz, when the embalmed corpse of the sixteenth Khamba Lam, which had been facing north, turned its head to face west, interpreted by observers to be a sign of the direction in which his successor would be found. Shortly thereafter, the Süüder Lam, a religious regent of sorts who temporarily assumes the responsibilities of the Khamba Lam during the search for a successor, had a vision which led the searchers to Tariagai.

After several visits to the village, during which their true identities were not revealed, the monks determined that young Chormakhan was indeed a soul boy, and a candidate to be the next Khamba Lam. During their visits with the boy, they subjected him to many tests, including one in which several pairs of items were displayed to him. One of each pair was a possession of the former Khamba Lam, and one was not. In every instance, the boy chose the item that belonged to the former holy leader.

In 1939, at the age of four, Chormakhan Baasanjav was taken in a procession of Shashin monks and shamans to the Celestial City, where he was presented to the Court of Qaghan Nargah VII. After hearing the presentation of the monks, concerning the search for and identification of the next Khamba Lam, the Qaghan concurred. On 18 Cesoren 1939, four-year-old Chormakhan Baasanjav was given the sprirtual name Asartom Sürkhlan, and with an abundance of splendid ritual and ceremony, invested as the seventeenth Khamba Lam of the Temple of Heaven.

Khamba Lam

Хамба Лам

---

SPIRITUAL LEADER

---

Incumbent
Asartom Sürkhlan, 17^th Khamba Lam

---

17^th Khamba Lam

---

Reign:

18 Cesoren 1939-present

Predecessor:

Thutben Sürkhlan

Born:

Chormakhan Baasanjav

3 Glana 1935

Tariagai, Shinekhir, Noam

Father:

Chormakhan Alghu

Mother:

Sayinaral Qayag

Religion:

Shashin (Yellow Hat)

---

^{IMAGE CREDIT:
Khamba Lam, by the Author, via Wombo Dream}