The Datsan Gunzechoinei is a large
Buddhist
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
temple in
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
,
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...
. It is the northernmost
Buddhist temple
A Buddhist temple or Buddhist monastery is the place of worship for Buddhists, the followers of Buddhism. They include the structures called vihara, chaitya, stupa, wat and pagoda in different regions and languages. Temples in Buddhism repres ...
in Russia.
History
In 1909,
Agvan Dorzhiev got permission from the Tsar to build a large and substantial Buddhist ''
datsan'' or temple in Saint Petersburg which he hoped would become the residence of the first Buddhist ruler of Russia.
However, the
Russian Orthodox Church
, native_name_lang = ru
, image = Moscow July 2011-7a.jpg
, imagewidth =
, alt =
, caption = Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia
, abbreviation = ROC
, type ...
campaigned strongly against construction of this "pagan" temple across the country, which considerably delayed its construction. However, the first service was held on 21 February 1913, and construction was completed by 1915, when
Tsar Nicholas II
Nicholas II or Nikolai II Alexandrovich Romanov; spelled in pre-revolutionary script. ( 186817 July 1918), known in the Russian Orthodox Church as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer,. was the last Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Polan ...
confirmed the arrival of a staff of nine lamas: three from
Transbaikalia, four from
Astrakhan
Astrakhan ( rus, Астрахань, p=ˈastrəxənʲ) is the largest city and administrative centre of Astrakhan Oblast in Southern Russia. The city lies on two banks of the Volga, in the upper part of the Volga Delta, on eleven islands of the ...
Province, and two from
Stavropol Province. The stained glass windows were commissioned from
Nicholas Roerich
Nicholas Roerich (; October 9, 1874 – December 13, 1947), also known as Nikolai Konstantinovich Rerikh (russian: link=no, Никола́й Константи́нович Ре́рих), was a Russian painter, writer, archaeologist, theosophi ...
.
A second large service was held on 9 June 1914 to consecrate a large gilded copper statue of the sitting Buddha
Shakyamuni, which was a gift from King
Rama VI of
Siam
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...
(Thailand), and a standing Buddha
Maitreya
Maitreya (Sanskrit: ) or Metteyya (Pali: ), also Maitreya Buddha or Metteyya Buddha, is regarded as the future Buddha of this world in Buddhist eschatology. As the 5th and final Buddha of the current kalpa, Maitreya's teachings will be aimed a ...
, a gift from G. A. Planson of the Russian Council in
Bangkok
Bangkok, officially known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estimated populati ...
.
The consecration of the ''datsan'' was held on 10 August 1915, when it was given the name of ''Gunzechoinei'', or 'The source of the Buddha's Religious Teaching that has Deep Compassion for All Beings.'
[Ostrovskaya-Junior, Elena A. "Buddhism in Saint Petersburg."](_blank)
After 1917, the building was ransacked and used for many purposes. It was briefly taken over and damaged by a
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian language, Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist R ...
detachment in 1919. Some repairs were carried out in 1922, major restoration was undertaken about 1926 but soon after there was a general persecution of Buddhism throughout the
Buryat-Mongol Republic and the
Kalmyk Autonomous Region, and monasteries were closed and their property including sacred books, altar ornaments, etc., seized, and lamas heavily repressed.
The Leningrad temple, because of its foreign connection remained relatively immune for a while. In late 1933 the last Buddhist service was held at the temple in honour of the recently deceased
Thubten Gyatso, the 13th Dalai Lama of Tibet, who had died 17 December 1933.
By 1935 a large group of lamas was arrested by the
NKVD
The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (russian: Наро́дный комиссариа́т вну́тренних дел, Naródnyy komissariát vnútrennikh del, ), abbreviated NKVD ( ), was the interior ministry of the Soviet Union.
...
and sentenced to 3 to 5 years hard labour. In 1937 the remaining Buddhists in the city were arrested and shot the same day.
[Andreev (1991), p. 221]
The temple was spared from bombing during the
Siege of Leningrad
The siege of Leningrad (russian: links=no, translit=Blokada Leningrada, Блокада Ленинграда; german: links=no, Leningrader Blockade; ) was a prolonged military blockade undertaken by the Axis powers against the Soviet city of ...
thanks to the lobbying by the Buddhist sympathizers within
Ahnenerbe.
In 1989 the Buddhist community in Saint Petersburg was officially recognised. That year a service was held by the Most Reverend Lama
Kushok Bakula Rinpoche. That was the first service in 50 years.
On 14 July 2004, the 150th birthday of Agvan Dorjiev was celebrated at the Buddhist temple in Saint Petersburg, a memory plate was unveiled, and a talk given by the American Buddhist scholar,
Robert Thurman.
Ocean of wisdom :: gallery
/ref>
As of 2013, the temple is actively maintained and a place of practice for scholars and students of the Tibetan Gelugpa
240px, The 14th Dalai Lama (center), the most influential figure of the contemporary Gelug tradition, at the 2003 Bodhgaya (India).
The Gelug (, also Geluk; "virtuous")Kay, David N. (2007). ''Tibetan and Zen Buddhism in Britain: Transplantati ...
school.
See also
* Buddhism in Russia
Notes
External links
Datsan homepage
References
* Andreev, Alexandr. (1991)."Agwan Dorjiev and the Buddhist Temple in Petrograd". In: ''Chö-Yang: The Voice of Tibetan Religion and Culture''. Year of Tibet Edition. 1991. Gangchen Kyishong, Dharamsala, H.P., India.
{{Coord, 59.9836, N, 30.2558, E, source:wikidata, display=title
20th-century Buddhist temples
Religious buildings and structures in Saint Petersburg
Buddhism in Russia
Tibetan Buddhism in Europe
Religious buildings and structures completed in 1915
Cultural heritage monuments of federal significance in Saint Petersburg