Ulaanbaatar
Collection of the National Museum of Mongolia: ‘Four Dignities’ puzzle
Art & Culture
Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/. A ‘Four Dignities’ puzzle is being kept in the collection of the National Museum of Mongolia. The puzzle consists of painted sculptures of the garuda, dragon, lion, and tiger and its box stand.
1. Box stand: Made with pine wood. To make the box stand, a table was first made with dimensions of 8.8 cm in height, 12.5 cm in width, and 35.5 cm in length. Then, a small frame was then added to it. Painted in red and green colors, a metallic golden color was used to create the 12 floral embossments around it.
2. Sculptures of the Four Dignities:
Garuda: With five precious stones on top of its head, it has big eyes, white horns, and the head of an eagle. Aside from having blue scales, it has a spotted white snake in its mouth as well as one of its strong talons.
Dragon: It has white upright horns, white fangs, and a green mane. The yellow dragon is depicted holding onto precious stones in 3 of its claws.
Lion: With a green mane going down his back and a big pair of eyes, it is depicted to be growling with its teeth showing. The main body of the lion is painted yellow, and its hair and other features are painted with black.
Tiger: The black-striped orange tiger is depicted with its tail coming to the front, curled up on the ground showing three of its paws. It is also illustrated to be growling, with its fangs showing.
How to play: The puzzle is completed by fitting in the four animals in the hexagon box. It is important to find which one should first be placed inside. As the Four Dignities are made up of animals of both the sky and the land, it is believed that they are able to rule the east, west, north, and south when they join forces.
