Dialogue Between Authorities and Believers: Prehistory of Ivolginsky Datsan Foundation

Abstract

The article is devoted to the early history of the Khambinsky sume temple better known as Ivolginsky datsan. The work is based on the documents from the State Archive of the Republic of Buryatia, which regards to its history. The author also attracted documents characterizing the events that relate to the period 1944–1946. We note that despite the fact that the foundation of the datsan fell on the difficult period of post-war times, believers and the clergy did a lot of work not only to found the temple but also to restore and relegalize the Buddhist religion in the BMASSR after the repressive policy of the Soviet state. As an important issue, the author singles out the patriotic appeal of Did Khambo Lama Khaidap Galsanov, which preceded these events, in which he called on believers to support the Motherland and to start raising funds for the defense fund. The article also contains information obtained during conversations with Bimba Lama Dorzhiev, who carefully keeps the memories of his fellow villagers, his elders, who were direct witnesses of the events of those days. Despite the fact that most of the archival documents mentioned in the article have already been published at different times, this article builds a chronology of events and documents of the first steps in the formation of the temple, with accompanying references to other documents that clarify some details. In addition, information from informants, despite its lack of evidence, and, moreover, some of them contradict official sources, have the right to be published for coverage of a wide audience. The article also presents some information about the personalities who took an active part in the founding of the sume, later called Ivolginsky datsan.

Keywords

• buddhism
• religion and power
• buddhist temple
• hambinsky sume
• ivolginsky dastan