The Astrakhan Territory was not only motley in its ethnic composition, but amazed (and still amazes) with the diversity of the spiritual and religious life of the inhabitants of the lower reaches of the Volga. Here three world religions met - Christianity, Islam and Buddhism.
Landmark - Tibet
The emergence of the Buddhist religion in the Lower Volga region was associated with the migration to these places of the ancestors of the Kalmyks, the Western Mongols-Oirats, who adopted Lamaism (a kind of Buddhism) back in their homeland, Mongolia. In the first decades of their stay on the Volga, the Kalmyk princes focused on Tibet in matters of religion and religious policy and maintained very close ties with it. From Tibet to Kalmykia, lamas - high priests - were sent; pilgrims went to Lhasa to worship the Dalai Lama. The tsarist government tried to limit such travel, and at the same time the influence of Tibet, which was done by the end of the 18th century. The approval of the Supreme Lama of Kalmykia became the prerogative of St. Petersburg, which replaced Lhasa in this respect.
The means of strengthening Lamaism among Kalmyks were khuruls (monastic complexes) - first nomadic, and then stationary. At the beginning of the 20th century, there were 67 khuruls on the territory of the Astrakhan province. Many of them were truly unique, such as the Khosheutovsky khurul in Tyumenevka (now the village of Rechnoye, Kharabalinsky district).
How khuruls were built
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When building temples, it was necessary to observe a special ceremony: not a single temple could be erected without the permission of one of the supreme guardians of the Buddhist faith. Upon receiving such permission, the builders chose the site of the future temple. When it was indicated, they started 15-day prayers, appeasing the geniuses - the guardians of the area, whom the person was forced to disturb.
On the day the temple was laid, special lines were drawn to mark the walls of the structure. “These features are first denoted by the oldest in the khurul gelung (priest),” the pre-revolutionary scientist G. Pozdeyev describes this ceremony as a wide footprint of a cast-iron turtle, which he drags along the place of the future walls of the idol, and then each of the gelungs who serve him must follow this trail with a special the furrow of the horn of the beast, which the Kalmyks call "orongo".
It is interesting that the unicorn horn was kept in the family of Prince Tyumen for a long time. According to a family legend, the horn was acquired by Serebjab Tyumen abroad during the war of 1812. According to an eyewitness, "this horn was soldered in four places with silver nuts … When the Kalmyks move to another place, then, first of all, they stick this horn into the ground, which is why the evil spirits leave this place."
At the site of the future altar, a small crypt was dug in the ground, where a sacred bumbo vessel with jewelry was installed - a sign of final reconciliation with evil spirits. After a while, the construction of the temple itself began. If in Orthodoxy the altar of the church is always facing east, then the altar at the khurul is facing north, and the entrance to the temple is, respectively, from the south. This location is associated with the Buddhist teaching that the modern place of residence of Shakyamuni - the last earthly Buddha - is located in the north.
On the roof of the temple, the image of the lying semicircle of the moon and the sun hoisted above it was certainly installed, from which sometimes a flame emerged in the form of one fiery tongue. This formula is a symbol of the fact that Shakyamuni's faith is as beneficial and brilliant as these items. The forms of religious buildings could be very diverse; moreover, by the beginning of the 20th century, a very strong influence of Russian architectural traditions was felt. This was due to the participation of Russian builders in the construction of Kalmyk churches.
Amazing icons
The interior decoration of the khuruls amazed with the splendor and abundance of yellow shiny figures on the altars. From the doors to the altar, there were two rows of seats for the clergy. During the service, the priests performed special melodies on bizarre instruments. Very interesting information is given by A. Dumas, who visited the khurul in Tyumenevka in 1857: “When the prince and princess entered the temple, an unprecedented cacophony broke out. Each performer blew into full lungs or hit with full swing. Whoever blew into the pipes, bivalve shells of exorbitant size … Among the rattling of bells, shuddering of cymbals, vibrating tom-toms, squealing of sea shells and roaring of pipes, one could believe that you were in a magical place."
Opposite the entrance to the temple was an altar, the decoration of which consisted of several gilded figurines of Kalmyk deities, small metal cups for sacrifices and many different objects. The sculptures of deities, distinguished by the elegance of work and the sophistication of the author's imagination, were made of copper or bronze, and only in rare cases from silver or gold (in the Khoshut Khurul, which was mentioned above, the sculpture of the Dalai Lama was made of gold). Most of these sculptures were brought from Mongolia, but from the middle of the 19th century in Moscow and Rostov-on-Don, Russian masters began to make sculptures to order.
In addition to sculptures, the walls of the temples were decorated with icons and wall paintings. Kalmyk icons differ significantly from Orthodox ones not only in their writing technique, but also in their manufacturing technology. Kalmyk icons - "dartsiks" - are depicted on matter, which is first primed, and only then the image is applied with special paints mixed with fish glue. This piece of cloth is attached to the shaft, which allows the icons to be neatly folded when migrating.
The images on the icons amaze with the sophisticated imagination of the authors, the rich colors and excite the imagination with either the mysterious mystery of the deities, or the unbridled fury of the idam monsters. Llamas-painters (zurachi) were engaged in the manufacture of such icons. In the Kalmyk steppe, zurachi from the Khosheutovsky khurul were highly valued.
What were the Kalmyk priests
Kalmyk temples attracted to themselves not only with amazing painting and sculpture, magnificent ceremony. The Kalmyk priests, the Gelungs, were also interesting in themselves. Here is how historians describe them: “Those who wear a yellow suit mainly devote themselves to serving Shakyamuni and consider their main duty to be charity in places not only in relation to people, but also to all living creatures in general. In Astrakhan, they often go to the bazaar known as Malye Isady and buy hundreds of fish from the cages, which are then released into the Volga. Those who wear red robes choose a special specialty for themselves - communication with dokshits (fierce spirits who come to pious people) In addition, priests also have specialties, there are three of them: healers (emchi), astrologers (zurkhachi), painters (zurachi).
Ancient medicine traditions
According to legend, Sanji Arakba brought medical science to the Astrakhan Kalmyks from Tibet in the second half of the 18th century, who passed on his knowledge to the Torguts (an ethnic group in the Kalmyk ethnic group). Traditionally, it is believed that the human body consists of five primary elements: fire, water, wood, iron and dust. These primary elements in many eastern philosophical systems, which have become the basis of all that exist, directly affect human health: the predominance or, on the contrary, a decrease in one or another element causes illness.
Thus, treatment consists in finding out the element - the culprit of the disease, and in eliminating the cause - by increasing or decreasing the concentration of the element. At first glance, this method of treatment may seem quite quack, but nevertheless, the emchi were well versed in herbs, had the skills of acupuncture treatment. Astrologers played an important role in the life of the Kalmyks. Of course, Buddhism-Lamaism and many Eastern religions are attractive not only for their magnificent ritual side, but also for their interesting philosophical views of the world.