The biggest Buddhist temple in Europe opened in Kalmykia (Russia)

Regnum, December 28, 2005

Telo Rinpoche with monks in front of the temple

On December 27, the Golden Temple was opened in the capital of the republic of Kalmykia Elista (Russia), reports a REGNUM correspondent. The Golden Temple is the biggest Buddhist temple in Russia and Europe as well. Over 5,000 people came to the opening ceremony – residents of Kalmykia, representatives of Buddhist communities from Moscow, Volgograd, Saratov.

Kalmyk President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, leadership of the Buddhist Community of the republic, Royal Nepalese Ambassador to the Russian Federation Hiranya Lal Shrestha, and representatives of Buddhist communities from Buryatia, Tuva, Mongolia, Tibet participated in the ceremony.

According to an email sent to PHAYUL, His Holiness the Dalai Lama did the ritual consecration of the site for the temple during his visit to Kalmykia last December. The President of Kalmykia Kirsan Ilyumzhinov and head of Kalmyk Buddhist Telo Rimpoche worked tirelessly to make the project a success. Buddhists in the region believe that the temple, with the blessings from His Holiness the Dalai Lama, will become an important part of the Buddhism in Russia.

Simultaneously, in front of the temple a statue to the White Old Monk, Kalmyk national god was also opened on Tuesday. The two-meter high symbolizes residents of the steppe republic. During the opening ceremony, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov called the monument a dedication to the Kalmyks who died during the years of deportation: "We were in a hurry to construct the temple by the end of December, the tragic day when the deportation of the Kalmyk people started."

The size of the Golden Temple and the Buddha statue let the Mongolian delegation call the temple "center of the world Buddhism." Representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Russia and the CIS Mr.Tashi said that from this moment, "not Kalmyk students will go to Indian Buddhist institutes, on the contrary Buddhist teachers from India and Nepal will go to Elista to study students from Kalmykia, other regions of Russia, from the CIS and European countries."

There is a sizeable number of Buddhist population in Kalmykia, Buryatia and Tuva regions of Russia. The Russian government denied visa to the Dalai Lama a couple of times in the recent years thus disappointing the Buddhist population in Russia. But this disappointment was short-lived as the Russian government softened its stand and issued visa to the Tibetan leader last year.

source: http://www.regnum.ru/english/566626.html
source: http://www.phayul.com/news/article.aspx?article=Buddhist+Temple+in+Russia+Nears+Completion&id=11510