The old Buddhists of Europe (video)

DW, 7/12/19; Namepedia, 5/5/15; Jen Bradford, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Kalmykia is Europe's only Buddhist region

(Pal in China) May 19, 2022. Kalmykia is located in Eastern Europe in Southwest Russia. The Kalmyk nomads, a Mongol subgroup, came here about 400 years ago. They brought their Tibetan Buddhist tradition with them from East Asia. The republic was dissolved in 1943 under the reign of Russian dictator Stalin, spiritual leaders were persecuted, and Buddhist temples were destroyed. The entire Kalmyk people were deported to Siberia and only allowed to return to the region after the end of Stalinism. Since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1990, Buddhism has flourished again in Kalmykia. There are now Buddhist temples, pagodas, and religious statues, especially in the capital city of Elista.

Kalmykia: Europe's only Buddhist region | Europe to the Maxx

(DW Euromaxx) ELISTA - Welcome to Europe's only Buddhist Region, Kalmykia. Some 160,000 Buddhists live here. Kalmykia is an autonomous republic of the Russian Federation, located between the Caucasus and the Caspian Sea. For the series "Europe to The Maxx," Euromaxx reporter Hendrik Welling has made his way to the south-easternmost part of Europe. Join him on his tour to see the highest statue of Buddha in Europe, to hear the sound of overtone singing, and to learn more about the rich culture of this special place in Europe.

• Buddhism in Kalmykia
• #EuropeToTheMaxx

The grand Buddhist temple in Elista, Kalmykia, is full of European devotees.

.

What the Buddha taught is True!

There is a place at the edge of Europe, by the Caspian Sea, just before the Ural Mountains, where one can find the only Buddhist people with roots in this old continent called Europe.

The Kalmyk people

Kalmyks have been living there since the XVIIth century, after a long journey from Mongolian Djungaria, a land in Far East Siberia.

Buddhist pavilions under a bright blue sky made out of wood with ceramic roof arcing inward.

.

Kalmyk girl dressed in Russian fashion

Like all other people who have undergone an extensive journey looking for a new home, they tried to go back.

They have been chased around the steppes a few times: Kalmyks have been subjected to contrasting cultural influences and have emerged as quite original themselves.

• PHOTO: Kalmyk girl, wearing a red dress decorated with white lace and a head bonnet, typical of the Russian fashion of that time.

Map showing where the Kalmyk region is situated in the Ural Mountains

.

From their shamanic roots, to the Tibetan [Vajrayana] Buddhism they practice, to the pressure of living under a Russian bureaucracy, to the surprise that this was once the chess capital of Europe, Kalmyk culture has felt it all.

Kalmykia is the most Eastern of European realms and the most Western of Asian cultures, uniting such strong contrasts in everyday life and reflecting its history even in names. More

• Jewishvoiceforpeace.org
• The future of photography: PhotoVibrance.io
• The to publish and market a book (paperravenbooks.com)
• It's time to learn math and logic from Euclid to modern geometry