Kalmyk Buddhist rituals, holidays, and pilgrimage collection

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Collection

Kalmykia, Russian Federation

Videos from the Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Documentation Project. The project is based at the Mongolia and Inner Asia Studies Unit, the University of Cambridge. Its principal output is a database of Kalmyk and Oirat cultural heritage in Russia and China. This collection includes a series of videos on “Buddhist Rituals, Holidays and Pilgrimage”. In Kalmykia all national holidays, including the Tsagan Sar, Ur Sar, and Zul, are celebrated both as national and religious holidays. On these days people hold celebrations at home and go to a temple. The ritual of calling in the Buddha Maitreya is another Buddhist holiday performed annually in the temples across Kalmykia. The Kalmyks also carry out various seasonal rituals, including gal tyalgn dedicated to ancestors, rituals to purify land, and others. Mandala offerings and tsam, both performed by visiting Tibetan monks, stand out among Buddhist rituals in terms of elaboration and grandeur. Tsam, which is a theatralized ritual involving deities from the Buddhist pantheon, has been performed only twice in Kalmykia. When it was staged the second time in September 2015 in Elista, the project team videotaped this rare and mysterious celebration, which we host in this video collection. Here you can also see videos of pilgrimages to sacred sites, including the Bogdo Mountain, the historical Khosheutovsky temple, and others.