DATSAN GUNSECHOYNEI

Datsan Gunzechoynei is one of the world’s northernmost Buddhist temples. The representative of the Dalai Lama in Russia Aghvan Dorzhiev received permission to build a church in St. Petersburg in 1900. The construction money was donated by the Dalai Lama XIII, Aghvan Dorzhiev, and was also collected by Buddhists of the Russian Empire.

Regular services in the datsan ceased at the end of 1916, and all the monks who served in it left Petrograd. In 1919, the temple was looted, the temple library was destroyed, and the archival documents collected by Agvan Dorzhiev disappeared without a trace, covering the relations between Russia, England, Tibet and China over the past 30 years. In 1924, the datsan began to function again until 1935, when the temple was closed, the persecution of Buddhist clergy began; in the spring of 1935, the NKVD authorities arrested the first group of lamas. In 1937, Chekists staged a night defeat of the Leningrad datsan, arresting all the remaining monks and people who lived at the church (among them were Buryat enlighteners, Russian Oriental scholars) and believers. By decision of the «troika» of the captured, they were shot, among them the famous Mongolian Baradiin. On November 13, 85-year-old Aghvan Dorzhiev was arrested in Buryatia, and on January 29, 1938, Dorzhiev, after a single interrogation, dies in a prison hospital in the city of Verkhneudinsk, now Ulan-Ude. Datsan is transferred to the possession of athletes. In May-June 1939, Daniil Kharms (Yuvachev) mentions him in his story “The Old Woman”; the character of the work travels in a suburban train from Finland Station to the Lisiy Nos station and shares his observations from the window: “We are passing Lanskaya and Novaya Derevnya. There’s a glimpse of the golden top of a Buddhist pagoda, and there’s a sea. ” the character of the work travels in a suburban train from Finland Station to the Lisiy Nos station and shares his observations from the window: “We are passing Lanskaya and Novaya Derevnya. There’s a glimpse of the golden top of a Buddhist pagoda, and there’s a sea. ” the character of the work travels in a suburban train from Finland Station to the Lisiy Nos station and shares his observations from the window: “We are passing Lanskaya and Novaya Derevnya. There’s a glimpse of the golden top of a Buddhist pagoda, and there’s a sea. ”

During World War II, a military radio station was built in the church. She remained in the building until the 1960s, being used as a “jammer”. Since the 1960s, the laboratory of the Zoological Institute has been located in the building. July 9, 1990 by the decision of the executive committee of the Leningrad City Council, the temple was transferred to Buddhists. In 1991, the temple received its current name — Datsan Gunzechoynei, which is an abbreviation of the Tibetan name given to him during consecration. Lama-gelong Danzan-Khaibzun Samaev was appointed as the new datsana.

Three years later, in the main altar of the temple, a new burkhan of the Big Buddha Shakyamuni was installed, made by Mongolian craftsmen in the traditional Mongolian style — from papier-mâché, followed by coating the figure of the creed with gold leaf. The high jade back of the Buddha’s throne (“mandorla”) was decorated with images of various mythological creatures, forming a bright color scheme. The height of the body of the Buddha is two and a half meters, and together with the throne — about five.

Registration of the Buddhist community and the resumption of service in the temple contributed to the further spread of Buddhism in St. Petersburg. By the beginning of 2000, there were already at least a dozen Buddhist groups in the city, representing various, including non-Tibetan, Buddhist traditions.