History

Religion - Olchon region - Museums - Legend of Lake Baikal

Religion in Russia

Historical

Religion plays a prominent role in the public and spiritual life of today's Russia. The majority of believers belong to the Orthodox Christian denomination.
Russia adopted Christianity under Prince Vladimir of Kiev in 988, in a ceremony patterned on Byzantine rites. Russia's baptism laid the foundations for the rise of the Russian Orthodox Church. The patriarchate survived in Russia until the early 18th century. In 1718, Peter the Great introduced collective control in the Russian Church. This innovation worked until 1721 only, when the Ecclesiastical College was transformed into a ruling Holy Synod, instituted as an administrative body of church power of the Russian Orthodox Church. In 1917, the Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church adopted a resolution that restored patriarchal rule. After the 1917 upheavals, the Russian Orthodox Church traversed a hard and tragic road. The early years of the Soviet regime were particularly challenging for it. The Land Decree of October 26, 1917, deprived the Church of the bulk of its lands. That hit especially the monasteries. In another decree, made public on January 26, 1918, the Council of People's Commissars (the government) separated the church from the state and school. As a result, all church organizations lost the powers of legal entity and the right to own property. To have the decree put into effect, a special liquidation committee was set up to evict the monks from their monasteries, many of which were destroyed, not without acts of vandalism, in which church utensils and bells were melted down and shrines containing relics were opened. In the late 1980s, with attempts launched to restructure the country's economic and political system, major changes were made in the relationship between the state and the Church in the hope of revival. The millennium of Christianity in Russia in 1988 was celebrated on a grand scale. In that year, 1,610 new religious communities, most of them of the Orthodox belief, were registered in the country.
In 1990, a series of laws were passed on the freedom of religion, under which many of the existing restrictions were removed from religious communities, allowing them to step up their activities. With nearly 5,000 religious associations the Russian Orthodox Church today accounts for over a half of the total number registered in Russia. Next in numbers come Moslem associations, about 3,000, Baptists, 450, Seventh Day Adventists, 120, Evangelicals, 120, Old Believers, over 200, Roman Catholics, 200, Krishnaites, 68, Buddhists, 80, Judaists, 50, and Unified Evangelical Lutherans, 39. Many churches and monasteries have been returned to the Church, including the St. Daniel Monastery, the current seat of the Moscow Patriarchate, the spiritual and administrative center of the Russian Orthodox Church. Some statisticians estimate the percentage of believers at 40 per cent of the entire Russian Federation. Close to 9,000 communities belonging to over forty confessions had been officially registered in the country. The majority of religious Russians are Christians. The country has over 5,000 Russian Orthodox churches. Many are built anew or under repair on parish and local budgets money. The Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, demolished in 1931, is restored. Russia had 150 Roman Catholic parishes, two theological seminaries and an academy before the revolution of 1917. All were suppressed in the Soviet years, and the believers -- ethnic Lithuanians, Poles and Gennans -- were banished and scattered all over Siberia and Central Asia. 83 communities have reappeared by now, and Apostolic Administrations linked to the Vatican have been established in Moscow for European Russia, and in Novosibirsk for Siberia. There are four bishops and 165 priests working among the approximately 1,300,000 Catholics in the country. The two million Protestants have 1,150 communities. The nineteen million Muslims, the second largest religious community in Russia, have over 800 parishes and mosques, mostly in Bashkortostan, Daghestan, Kabarda-Balkaria, North Ossetia, Tatarstan, Ingushetia, and Chechnya. Buddhism is widespread in Buryatia, Kalmykia, Tuva, and the Irkutsk and Chits regions. The Russian Federation currently has ten datsan monasteries, with the total monastic body approaching 200. Another ten monasteries are under construction.

Irkutsk and its churches

Before the turn of the century Irkutsk had more than 20 churches and 50 locations where all people could pray. After the Perestroika only 7 of those places are left which are however mostly used for other purposes. The Church of Irkutsk, once the biggest one in Irkutsk and the 4th biggest of Russia, was blowed up 40 years ago. Today there are only 3 churches in their old function.

Buddhism in Russia

In the early 17th century, Tibetan Buddhism spread north from Mongolia to Buryat communities of the Baikal region. The second wave came directly from Tibet.
Aiming for weakening the influence of Mongols and Manchurs in the region, the tsar conferred the title of Bandido Khambo Lama on the priors of Gusinoozersk Datsan to acknowledge them as leaders of Buryat Buddhism. Thus, Buryat tradition became officially independent of the Mongolian Church. There were schools opened at datsans and books printed. Buddhism in Tuva had significantly closer relations to Mongolia than Buryat Buddhism; besides, it coexisted peacefully with the local tradition of shamanism. People came to see shamans in certain cases while consulting Buddhist priests in others. By 1846, 34 datsans had been built in Buryatia. With much effort and a lot of expenses, Buryats managed to import a vast number of sacred books from Tibet, China, and Mongolia, and adopted many living practices of both the dominant Gelug and other schools. In 1869, Buddhists of Tsugol Datsan began studying Indo-Tibetan medicine under the guidance of Mongolian Lama Choi Manramba. Formation of the basic institutions of higher theological education after the Tibetan pattern had been completed in 1876, when a school of Duinkhor Kalachakra was established at Aginsk Datsan. By 1935, about one third of Buryat datsans was emptied because the clergy had either fled or been repressed. A year later, 22 of 29 datsans were closed down under the pretext that they were situated near the state border, and lamas were expelled, accused of being 'Japanese spies' and 'the people's enemies'. It was only in 1948 that a new monastery was built in Ivolga, near Ulan-Ude, the capital of Buryatia, and one of the buildings of Aginsk Datsan near Chita was re-opened. With the beginning of perestroika, a great number of Buddhist communities was officially registered under the aegis of the Central Religious Committee of the Buddhists of the USSR. Restoration of destroyed monasteries started in the Baikal region, Kalmykia, and Tuva, along with building new temples. A Buddhist Institute was opened at Ivolga Datsan.

Shamanism in the Buriyat region

Shamanism is one of the most ancient religions ever practiced by human civilization. Central and Northern Asia have been "a selected land of shamanism religion" from times immemorial. Shamanistic belief of the Buryats - indigenous people of Lake Baikal area - is the faith and worship born with them in this land and preserved throughout thousands of years. The shaman rites and rituals proved their efficiency throughout the centuries and that is why Buryats from Lake Baikal area still refer to shamans to solve their health problems as well as major life issues. The Island of Olkhon on Lake Baikal, which is the main travel destination of the itinerary, is traditionally considered to be one of the few strongholds of Shamanism in Siberia. The magical land of Lake Baikal, the Great Siberian Taiga, and the Sayan Mountains have given birth to the unique culture that is world-renowned for its traditions and epic poetry.

The Buryats

The Buryats, numbering approximately 350,000, are the largest ethnic minority group in Siberia, and are mainly concentrated in their homeland, the Buryat Republic.

Buryats are of Mongolian descent and share many customs with their Mongolian cousins including nomadic herding and setting up yurts for shelter. Today, the majority of Buryats live in and around Ulan Ude, the capital of the republic, although many live more traditionally in the countryside.
The name "Buriyat" is mentioned for the first time in a Mongolian work (1240). Consolidation of tribes and groups took place in the conditions of the Russian state. In addition to genuine Buryat-Mongolian tribes (Bugalat, Khora, Ekhirit, Khongodor) which merged with the Buryats, the Buryats assimilated also other groups, for example Oirots, Khalkha Mongols, Tungus (Evenks) and others. The territory/people were annexed to the Russian state by treaties in 1689 and 1728, when the territories on both sides of Lake Baikal were separated from Mongolia. From the middle of the 17th century on to the beginning of the 20th century, the Buryat population increased from 27,700 to 300,000. After Buryatia was incorporated into Russia, it was exposed to two cultures - Christian and Buddhist traditions. Buryats west of Lake Baikal (Irkutsk Buryats) are "russified", and they soon abandoned nomadism for agriculture, whereas the eastern (Transbaykal) Buryats - closer to the Mongols - partly continued to live in yurts and are mostly Buddhists. In 1741, the Lamaist branch of Buddhism was recognized as one of the official religions in Russia, and the first Buryat datsan (Buddhist monastery) was built. The 2nd half of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century was a period of growth for the Buryat Buddhist church (48 datsans in Buryatia in 1914). Buddhism became an important factor in the cultural development of Buryatia. After the Revolution most of the lamas were loyal to the Soviet power. In 1925, a battle against religion and church started. Datsans were gradually closed down, and the activity of the church curtailed. Consequently, in the late 1930s, the Buddhist church ceased to exist and thousands of cultural treasures were destroyed. Attempts to revive the Buddhist Church started during World War II, officially it was re-established in 1946. Genuine revival of Buddhism has taken place since the late 1980s as an important factor in the national consolidation and spiritual rebirth. In 1923, Buryat-Mongol Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was formed and included Baikal province (Pribaykalskaya guberniya) with Russian population. In 1937, in an effort to disperse Buryats, Stalin's government separated a number of counties (rayony) from Buryat-Mongol ASSR and formed Ust-Orda Buryat Autonomous Okrug and Aga Buryat Autonomous Okrug; at the same time some counties with Buryat population were left out. Fearing Buryat nationalism, Stalin had more than 10,000 Buryats killed. In 1958, the name "Mongol" was taken away from the name of the republic (Buryat ASSR). BASSR declared its sovereignty in 1990, Republic of Buryatia since 1992, constitution of the Republic adopted by People's Hural in 1994, bilateral treaty with the Federation signed in 1995.

Arshan with the datsans

Arshan is a small city with two datsans. The smaller of the two datsans is also the older one. It has only one building, the main house.

The newer datsan is located in an area close to the medical garden.

It was build in the year 1918. The biggest building, the tempel, houses the altar. Next to it are two white stone monuments where holy scriptures are stored. Further smaller buildings in the vicinity house the datsan´s servants and priests. After the Second World War the datsan was completely destroyed and not rebuilt until the beginning of the Perestroika.

 

Ivolginsky Datsan

The Ivolginsky Datsan located in a vast green plain at the foot of the hills surrounding Ulan Ude is a big center of Buddhist culture, housing temples, a library, a school for monks, and accomodation for visitors. There is a ceremony open to visitors every morning around 9 AM, in a richly ornated temple, with big Buddha sculptures, colorful mandalas and a special seat for the Dalai Lama, when he comes. Young monk students, dressed with long dark red robes can show you around. Most of them speak different languages, they study philosophy, or tantrism, or Buddhist art and Tibetan language. In the library there are scripts with the words of Buddha and comments on his words: those texts are called Anjur and Ganjur. Prayer drums circle the territory of the Datsan, one should walk in a circle, in the same direction as the sun and stop at every drum to make it spinn. In a shrine is a big leafy tree, it’s a ‘ficus religios’ the same tree under which the Buddha reached enlightenment.

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