The Dund Khurul Reopens Its Doors in the Settlement of Khanata

This is a truly historic and highly significant event for our entire republic. Today, another spiritual sanctuary—the Dund Khurul—opened in Kalmykia. It took a full 12 years to reach this point. It is worth recalling that this is a revived temple with a long and fascinating history dating back to the XVIII century. For many years, the Dund Khurul was not merely a temple but a true center of wisdom — after all, it was here that Kalmykia’s first higher school of Buddhist philosophy, Tsannid, was founded.

In 1934, during a difficult period of persecution, the Dund Khurul was completely destroyed, leaving a deep wound. But memory, as they say, cannot be destroyed: it lived on in the stories of elders, in family traditions, and in the careful passing down of names and dates. The first step toward its return was the suburgan erected in 2006, and construction of its walls began in 2014. And today there is a great celebration in Khanata! The temple has reopened its doors.

The Shajin Lama of Kalmykia, Geshe Tenzin Choidak, together with monks from the Central Khurul, took part in the ceremonial opening of the Dund Khurul. “This is a significant event. I am very happy that each of you has managed to preserve and restore this great spiritual heritage. Now this place will become not only an important spiritual beacon for believers but also a living reminder of the resilience of our people and the strength of traditions that time cannot erase. May wisdom flourish once again within these walls, may prayers resound, and may good thoughts arise,” the Shajin Lama noted.

Hundreds of people came to share in this joy: believers, descendants of those who remembered the old temple, and young people for whom the Dund Khurul — is already a new chapter in history. For many, this day marked not merely the opening of a temple but the return of a part of the soul that had been lost — the very thread that links the past and the future.