Travelling far and wide is a great means to have an insight into any country as it makes one understand the people there and their lives and their culture. It also helps to understand and have a vivid picture of  that  country.  The  country  I  am  talking  about  is  the  Russian Federation, the world’s largest country. Hence, indeed, it is difficult for me to assess the lifestyle of Russian people and their civilization in  a  small  article  like  this,  but  I  am  trying  to  give  some  of  my observations which I grasped all the way from my first visit to that country in the year 1984, when the country was known as the Soviet Union, till recent time.

I availed of the opportunity to visit Moscow during the socialist era while I was returning to India after attending the 200th birth anniversary of the great Hungarian Csoma de Koros, who is known among the Tibetologist world over as the pioneer of Tibetan studies in  the  West.  My  visit  to  Moscow  became  possible  with  the intervention of Kushok Bakula Rinpoche, who was on his routine tour to the Soviet Union in connection with his attendance for the meeting of Asian Buddhist Conference for Peace (ABCP), the organisation of which Bakula Rinpoche was a founder-member in association with Buddhist Religious Department of Soviet Union and Mongolia. I entered Moscow by carrying a special entry permit to the city for a week and the same helped me to have a peep into the cultural life of the metropolitan city of Moscow and to spend about of a week. Out of the first two nights, I was lodged in a government guest house and the next remaining four days in a skyscraper hotel known at that time as Hotel Ukraine.

It is nearly after the gap of four-and-half decades that I once againavailed of the opportunity to travel to Russia on the invitation of Roerich Family Museum and Institute at St. Petersburg to attend the prestigious 19th International Scientific-practical conference on Nicolas Roerich at St. Petersburg from October 9–12, 2019. Nicolas Roerich was a credible painter and carried a Central Asia expedition from Leh in the trans-Himalayas in 1925, on his search of Shambhala, a mythical kingdom and his quest to explore the virgin land of Central Asia where once Buddhist civilization and culture had flourished. Again, after less than a one-month break in the month of November 2019, I travelled to Russia. This time to attend the first-ever held conference called the Scientific and Practical Conference of “Buddhist Civilization and Spiritual Heritage of the People of Eurasia: Oral and written tradition in a historical and cultural Context”, which was held at the central Abode temple of Buddha Shakyamuni, addressed in Tibetan the Gedan Sheddup Choi Korling Monastery built in the heart of Elista city from November 14–17, 2019. The latest visit happened to be the fourth in series to attend the 3rd International Buddhist Forum on the invitation of Kalmyk State University and the 3rd International Buddhist  Forum  from October  24–30,  2025  at Elista.

To  travel  from  New Delhi  to  Moscow,  the organisers  of the  Forum provided an air ticket to Moscow for the Aeroflot- Russian Airliner, and the duration of the flight was almost  7  hours.  While flying across countries and peninsulas, my observation from the high  skies was like taking a flight from Delhi to Leh, flying over naked mountains for hours and  in  between  seeing small  and  big  lakes  and rivers.  Similarly,  while flying above the Central Asian part of the journey, I observed naked high mountains and lakes at some places. The largest lake I observed was the Aral saltwater lake of Central Asia located between the country of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. Further, the aircraft moves towards Bukhara, the city which in the past played a major Silk Road hub. It is relevant to mention here that in the past caravans from Central Asia also reached Leh carrying merchandise loaded on double-humped camels, the breeds of the same now one can see in the Nubra valley of Ladakh in large numbers. With the aircraft entering into the main land of Russia, flying over a number of cities and finally having the bird’s-eye view of  the  splendid  city  of  Moscow,  the  aircraft  finally  landed  at Sheremetyevo International Airport, Moscow.

Upon landing, I was welcomed at the airport by Daria Palova, a Ph.D. candidate in Buddhist Studies at Moscow State University, deputed by my scholar-friend, Dr. Falev Egor Valeryevich, Professor of world philosophy, Department in the Philosophical Faculty of Lomonosov, Moscow State University, Moscow. Dr. Egor is a well- acclaimed Buddhist scholar and in the year 2019, he along with me and his wife Shustova Alla, attended the 19th International Scientific- practical conference on Nicolas Roerich at St. Petersburg. Daria came to receive me in her parents’ luxurious car and drew me to her flat located in the city.

While covering the distance between the airport and the Moscow city, almost 25 kms, I witnessed a splendid road with huge traffic moving in an orderly way, no horn or traffic disturbances as the road was built in a wide, planned way. With the entrance into the city centre, I could have glimpses of Stalin’s time skyscraper buildings including the building once used to be called Hotel Ukraine, in which during my short stay in Moscow in the year 1984, I stayed for a week. Stalin’s time skyscraper buildings refer to a group of seven skyscrapers built in Moscow between 1947 and 1957 under the orders of Joseph Stalin. These buildings were built as a symbol of the Soviet Union’s power and Victory in World War II. They include the main building of Moscow State university, where I happened to be on my first visit to the city and met Tibetologists.

After having a brief but panoramic view of the city by car, we reached Daria’s flat where she served a good lunch, and after having some rest, we proceeded towards the Red Square area. To reach the Red Square from her flat, we first had to ride on a tram to a metro station,  the  metro  built under a deep tunnel, and after  stopping  at  three stations we got to the Red Square, the area signifying the history and culture of Russia and its people. At the Red Square, we visited St. Basil’s Cathedral, the Kremlin,  and  Lenin’s Mausoleum.  I  was  also taken  to  a  spot  called Kilometre Zero. It is the marker  from  where  all distances to Moscow are measured and tradition lies there to toss a coin over one  of  the  shoulders, making  a  wish  for  good fortune. I did that. 

With that, we entered the shopping mall popularly  known  as  Gum,  a historic and visually striking shopping complex. By visiting all these historical monuments, my last visit to the city came alive. Finally, we  entered  Zaryadye Park, located next to Red Square, for a walk and to have a panoramic view of the  Kremlin  and  other monuments of the city built at  the  bank  of  Moskva River. With that our stay in the city came to an end. The  following  day, Daria arranged for me to be dropped by her family car to the Sheremetyevo International  Airport, Moscow, to fly to Elista, the  capital  city  of Kalmykia. At the airport, I  met  some  of  my acquaintances  coming from Bangladesh, our own country India and some new faces from Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Vietnam and Mongolia. The duration of the flight was of almost three hours and it was a wonderful flight as the flight, I was told, was a chartered flight for the delegates flying from Moscow to partici-pate in the III International Buddhist Forum, Elista, 2025.

Upon arrival at the Elista International Airport, the delegates were welcomed by the school children and organisers, taking Buddhist flags in hands, and a striking thing was that a large Chot-rten or stupa, which could be addressed as Namgail Chot-rten, signifying Buddha’s victory over evils at the entry point of the international airport. In order to organize the Buddhist Forum in a befitting manner and to welcome the delegates coming from various countries, I witnessed the city fully done up with Buddhist flags, buntings and of paintings of Buddha Shakyamuni, all the way from the Elista International Airport to the road leading to the centre of the city where the Golden Abode temple of Buddha Shakyamuni is located. The speciality of the paintings of Buddha Shakyamuni which were displayed at various crossing and intersection areas circled with the Pipal tree leaf in green, representing resurgence of a new era of Buddhist revival in the country. Indeed, the Buddha’s painting was looking great and awe-inspiring. Besides, a stage was erected at the main conference hall for the Buddhist monks and scholars to give lectures on Buddhism.

The opening of the IIIrd International Buddhist Forum, Elista, under the  banner  of  the  Central  Khurul  (monastery)  of  Kalmykia  and International Buddhist Forum was held on 25 September 2025, with the chanting of Mantra in Tibetan by monks. The key speakers of the opening session were Bata Khasikov, Head of the Republic of Kalmykia; Aleksey Tsydenov, Head of the Republic of Buryatia and Geshe Tenzin Choidak (Mutul Ovyanov), Shajin Lama of Kalmykia. Messages of the success of the conference received from the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin and other dignitaries were read out.

The delegates were told that the Elista conference was a follow- up of the previous two conferences held under the banner of the International Buddhist Forum in Republic of Buryatia in the year 2023 and 2024. The main thrust in organising such a Forum was to promote Buddhist  education  and  research  in  Russia  involving  scholars, academicians, writers and researchers from Buddhist countries as well from other countries of the world. At the conference, the Buddhist scholars and academicians from Russia, China, India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar,  Nepal,  Bhutan,  Cambodia,  Mongolia  and  also  from European countries participated and presented their papers. My paper at the Forum was: “Journey through time: Buddhism in Russia since the first visit of 19th Kushok Bakula Rinpoche in 1968”.

To show-case the traditional socio-cultural life of the people of Kalmykia to the delegates, various cultural shows and entertainment programmes were also arranged. The  forum was  opened  with  a grandiose  multimedia  show,  “Nomad  of  the  People”  by Andrei Boltenko, a world-famous director and producer and co-founder of the Raketa Media. The light and music programme was the cast of the history of evolution of Kalmykia people’s life and civilization, attended by thousands of people at an open stadium.

One among the many shows organised at the Golden Abode temple of Buddha Shakyamuni, was the participation of one thousand, both male and female musicians, drawn from various corners of Elista to play a two-string violin, which in Ladakhi is called ‘Damnyan’. It was a combined orchestra performance under the direction of their artistic director and conductor of the National Orchestra of Kalmykia Savr Kataev to pay tribute to the three jewels of Buddhism- Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. The perfection in playing the double-string violin was so overwhelming, and we were told that the same was their traditional cultural musical instrument.

Commenting on Buddhism in the Russian Federation, my friend Prof. Andrey Terentyev, a renowned Buddhist scholar, said that, “Russia must be considered a traditional Buddhist domain; therefore, contemporary  Buddhist development  in  Russia  must be  viewed differently compared to other European countries”. Hence the history of Buddhism in Russia is basically a history of Tibetan Buddhism in Russia and it started almost three centuries ago, when the first Buddhist monks of Tibetan tradition moved into Russian territory by Baikal Lake. With that a large number of temples and lamaseries were created but due to political upheavals in the country, all were destroyed by 1940. However, there existed three traditional areas of Tibetan Buddhism in the country, and for a better understanding of the current state of the religious movements, we have to have some idea of the geographical situation of Russia.

At present, three Republics of Russia such as Buryatia, Tuva and Kalmykia can be considered Buddhist regions in Russia. It was my good fortune that I availed of the opportunity to attend the Forum, for which I would like to say ‘thank you’ to all the members of the organising committee headed by Batu Khasikov, Alex Maslov and Omakaeva Ellara Ulyaevna.

In a nutshell, one would say proudly that the Conference, apart from highlighting the rise of Buddhism, was an occasion to have a sharp peep into the overall cultural and cilvilisational aspects of the region and around. The days spent in Elista and elsewhere were indeed very fruitful and ‘rewarding’ for the delegates.