Republic of Kalmykia

Posts Tagged ‘Dalai lama visits’

Elista city [ De | Ru | Es | Fr ]

Capital of Republic of Kalmykia.

Русская версия: Элиста.

Population: 103,728

Elista was founded in 1865 as a small settlement; the name is from Kalmyk els(e)n ‘sand(y).

Since 1991, the town has been characterized by the slow decay of Soviet-built institutions, and the large construction projects instigated by the republic’s millionaire president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov.

The town center has a number of renovated public parks focused on the main square, boasting statues to both Vladimir Lenin and the Buddha. To the east of the town lies the Olympic village of the 1998 XXXIII Chess Olympiad, known locally as “City-Chess“. The site has a public swimming pool and an excellent museum of Kalmyk Buddhist art, and is also infrequently used as a conference center. Read the rest of this entry »

The Kalmyks, the only Buddhist people in Europe, are the farthest north-western believers in Buddha. After fifty years of persecution of their traditional religious faith, as a result of the process of democratisation started in the country in the mid 80s of the 20th c., they had an oppotunity to regain their spiritual world which had developed for nearly eight hundred years under the influence of Buddhist teaching. People of different generations turn to their traditional faith, rite and deities.
Read the rest of this entry »

His Holiness the Dalai Lama XIV, the incarnation of bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, will visit the UK (United Kingdom) from 15 to 23 June, 2012. The Nobel Peace Prize Laureate’s nine day visit will take in the cities of Manchester, London, Edinburgh, Dundee and Inverness.

The key themes throughout the visit will be the promotion of His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s message of non-violence, compassion and universal responsibility. Read the rest of this entry »

Moscow, September 8 (Itar-Tass) – Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, when he steps down as head of the republic of Kalmykia, will remain in the republic to focus on three social and charity projects.

“I was born in Kalmykia, I have worked here, and I am not going to leave, I’m staying in the republic to focus on three projects,” he told a news conference on Wednesday. Read the rest of this entry »

BBC News

Russia says it is granting a visa to the Tibetan exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, for the first time since the collapse of the USSR.

This will allow him to visit the large Buddhist population in southern Kalmykia region.

Dalai Lama visited Soviet Russia in 1991, but since then Moscow has bowed to Chinese pressure and denied him a visa. Read the rest of this entry »

During his second visit to Kalmykia (Elista) in September 1992 His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama said, “The aim of my visit is to establish harmony: harmony with the environment, harmony among religions, harmony in the society and family and, – in the end, harmony of a man with his own self. I am stressing a great importance of this because everything depends on harmony in the world”.

All traditional beliefs co-exist organically in the Kalmyk society. Reviving national culture Read the rest of this entry »

His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama’s visit in the summer of 1991 became a marvelous in the life of the steppe republic.

The Bodhisattva of Compassion Dalai Lama stepped on the Kalmyk land for the first time during centuries-old history of Oirat-Kalmyks. Extremely deep love, joy, kindless towards the Teacher expressed by our reserved people was felt every where. Read the rest of this entry »

Ten thousands of believers in Buddha, Dharma and Sangha came from all parts of Russia and Kalmykia to Elista in 1991 to receive the Teaching and Blessing of Dalai Lama XIV, the incarnation of bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara.

Dalai Lama said “It is necessary to revive the traditional faith of the ancestors, to rebuild the temples, stupas of enlightenment and suburgans but above all it is important to build the temple in one’s soul”. Read the rest of this entry »