- Burkhan Bakshin Altan Sume
On
December 27 ,2005 , the Burkhan Bakshin Altan Sume ("The Golden Abode of the Buddha Shakyamuni") was opened inElista , the capital of theRepublic of Kalmykia , a federal subject of theRussian Federation . More than 5,000 people attended the opening ceremony, including representatives of Tibetan Buddhist communities from Moscow, Volgograd and Saratov.His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama blessed the site of the future temple just before he left Elista during his November 2004 visit to the Republic and gave it its name on March 11, 2006.
During the opening ceremony, the Republic of Kalmykia President
Kirsan Ilyumzhinov dedicated the temple to Kalmyks who died during and after their sudden and forced exile to Siberia after December 27, 1943.
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