Sponsored by Arcadia Fund, a charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwin

Sponsored by Arcadia Fund, a charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwin

Sponsored by Arcadia Fund, a charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwin

Mergen says that of all schools of Buddhism, Gelug was the most open to the masses. Whilst other schools, which were more closed, did not send out missionaries, Gelug pursued this line of activity. Despite being like this, Gelug also comprises of esotericism and secret ...

Sanj talks about the history of the Torghuts in Kalmykia. According to him, there are several versions of the etymology of the ethnonym Torghut. In the view of the French scholar Paul Pelliot, it derives from the Turkic verb ‘tur’ (to stand) + the plural suffix. The Sec...

Sangadzhi says that the Kalmyks have a unique fate connected with wars and blood. For many centuries the Kalmyks fought with others and participated in Russian military campaigns. Since shamanism required the worship of furious gods, the Kalmyks adopted this religion in...

Olga talks about the construction of two temples in Elista, the Geden Sheddup Choikorling Temple (Arshan Temple) and the Golden Abode of the Buddha Shakyamuni (Central Temple). She says that at the end of the 1980s and the beginning of the 1990s there was a great demand...

Sanj talks about the history of the Khoshuds. This is his story: According to the Secret History of Mongols, Chingis Khan’s bodyguards consisted of three parts, including keptyul (night guard), khorchin (bowmen) and turgak (day guards). Chingis Khan’s younger brother Kh...

Gennadiy talks about Buddhism in three parts. Part One: This part includes the following topics: the origin of Buddhism in India; first contact of the Mongols with Buddhism via the Uighurs; Buddhism in the Mongol Empire; the spread of Buddhism among the Oirats; the orig...

Sanal is originally from the village of Ketchenery in Kalmykia. He is from the Bagshin Shevnr clan. In 2001 at the age of 17 he became a monk. He made this decision after reading extensively about Buddhism and long reflections. Sanal is not the first monk in his family....