Photo Exhibition “Three Visits of the Dalai Lama” Opens at the Central Khurul of Kalmykia

Today the opening of the traveling photo exhibition “Three Visits of the Dalai Lama,” timed to the 15th anniversary of the Central Khurul, took place at “The Golden Abode of Buddha Shakyamuni.” The works presented at the exhibition belong to the photographer and Honored Cultural Worker of the Republic of Kalmykia Nikolai Boshev, who captured the stay of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama on Kalmyk soil in 1991, 1992, and 2004.

The Head of the Buddhists of Kalmykia Telo Tulku Rinpoche addressed those gathered with a welcoming word. Opening the exhibition, he reminded everyone that this year His Holiness turned 85, that in many countries of the world Buddhists have declared this year a year of gratitude to the 14th Dalai Lama, and that this exhibition is also timed to that event.

In his speech Telo Tulku Rinpoche thanked Nikolai Boshev for his many years of work and presented him with a letter of gratitude from the Shajin Lama and a ceremonial khadak with wishes of success in his professional activity. “I greatly respect Nikolai Borisovich, his modesty, his artistic works, his master’s hand, his talent,” the Rinpoche noted.

Anyone who wishes can visit the exhibition “Three Visits of the Dalai Lama,” arranged on the third level of “The Golden Abode of Buddha Shakyamuni”; it will then be sent to the districts of the republic.

As part of the event, a presentation of three books also took place — the photo album “The Dalai Lama in Kalmykia,” “The Repressed Buddhist Clergy of the 1920s–1930s. A List of Names of Kalmyk Monks,” and the collection of daily prayers in the Kalmyk language “Өdr bolһna kishgin buyn zalʹvrl.”

A creative team headed by Viktor Pompaev and Nikolai Boshev worked on the photo album book. Dzhangar Tatninov served as art editor, Elena Bosheva as editor of the photo album, and Doctor of Historical Sciences Elza Bakaeva prepared the text and annotation. Viktor Pompaev presented the first copies of the book as gifts to the Shajin Lama of Kalmykia Telo Tulku Rinpoche, the abbot of the Central Khurul Andzha Gelong, and the monastic community of Kalmykia.

The book about the repressed clergy was prepared by the Central Khurul together with the National Archive of the republic. This edition fills in blank spots and restores the names of members of the monastic sangha of Kalmykia; the book will be useful to historians, Buddhologists, and researchers of religion.

The event concluded with the presentation of the collection of prayers in the Kalmyk language. The collection is devoted to the fundamentals of Buddhist practice in the Kalmyk and Russian languages. Working on the collection of daily prayers were: the head of the Center for the Development of the Kalmyk Language Gennady Korneev, the senior administrator of the Central Khurul “The Golden Abode of Buddha Shakyamuni” Yonten Gelong, the chairman of the Buddhist community Sogar Muchkinov, acharya Bem Mitruev, the artist Oleg Chudutov, and Dzhangar Kukeev. The book consists of two parts: the first part is devoted to daily prayers, and the second to praises of the Buddhas and their mantras. According to Gennady Korneev, preparing this book took a great deal of time. The book was fully re-translated from Tibetan into Kalmyk, bypassing intermediary languages. “In order for this work to come about, we compared about 86 Buddhist texts of various length with their Tibetan versions and compiled a dictionary numbering over 6,000 words, terms, and concepts that were needed. And so today we can say that the tradition of translation established by Zaya Pandita once again lives on Kalmyk soil,” he emphasized.